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PICTURE BOOKS
Andros, Camille

The Boy and the Sea

32 pp. | Abrams | May, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-41974-940-7 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-64700-318-0 $15.54
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Amy Bates. In a gentle story that follows a character from childhood to old age, readers are prompted to ponder what the ocean teaches us. "Once there was a boy who lived by the sea," the book opens, as the child and his grandfather sit at the shore. The protagonist loves and identifies with the ocean; as he grows, he is, by turns, "dark and dangerous" and "tranquil and tender," just like the churning waves. The contemplative boy faces adolescent highs and lows, always returning to the water. The ways in which the ocean speaks to the boy (as well as some of his teenage troubles) are somewhat vague; but ocean lovers everywhere will relate to the pull of the water. The narrative comes full circle in the end, with the protagonist now an elderly man. "Once there was a boy who lived by the sea" is his grandson. Bates's striking illustrations are rendered in shades of teal and cerulean with warm touches of coral, and her panoramic views of the sky above the shoreline capture light magnificently.
Reviewer: Julie Danielson

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