Long ago, a once-great luxury liner sailed beside the sun with important people as its passengers. As time went by, this ship journeyed in purpose and function from luxury to industry to abandonment, eventually becoming a home for people who needed it the most. Told from the steamship's point of view, this luminous allegory reveals reinvention and the fragile fluidity of social class. The story's spare text and evocative watercolor illustrations depict the cycle of human migration.

2017 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book, 2017 USBBY Outstanding International Book.

The author/illustrator is a Colombian illustrator based in Argentina.

Switzerland. Originally published in German? as Wie die Zeit vergcht by NordSüd Verlag AD in 2016. English translation by Audrey Hall published in the United States by NorthSouth Books in 2016.

2017 Batchelder Honor Book and ALA Notable Book

Once upon a time there was a ship that sailed beside the sun with very important people on board. The spirit of reinvention – and the importance we place on things – is beautifully expressed in José Sanabria’s visually evocative story. A steamship makes a journey across time from luxury and exclusivity, industry and abandonment, to stewardship and inclusion as we see the evolving functions of the ship and the changing faces of the people who cherish it most of all.