The Castle Builder: Story and Pictures - Hardcover

Nolan, Dennis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0027682404 ISBN 13: 9780027682403

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1987

Synopsis

A young boy builds an unusual sand castle on the beach

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 2 When a young boy builds a monumental sand castle, he becomes Sir Christopher, Tamer of Dragons and Conqueror of the Black Knights. Standing on the battlements he stares down the dragon and meets the warriors from the sea. Just before the rising waves inundate the castle, he is snatched to safety by a tow-headed boy, who is himself, playing with a sand castle on the beach. Meticulously drawn full-page pointillistic illustrations in black ink on rich cream-colored paper employ unusual perspectives to show the boy, the castle, dragons and knights, and the intruding waves. The book begs comparison in terms of the blending of fantasy and reality with the work of Chris Van Allsburg. Nolan's book is a charming evocation of a child's world of make-believe, best shared by an adult, remembering, and a child, imagining. Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, N.J.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

A young boy fills his bucket with wet sand to build a sandcastle. Soon the walls are raised and towers reach toward the sky. Carefully placing his little toy inside the castle gate, he becomes Sir Christopher, builder of castles who tames a roaring dragon and battles the ship of the Black Knights, driving it back to the sea. But one thing goes awry with the boy's special creation: he cannot order the waves to stop pounding on the castle walls. What's left is nothing but a day's dreaming on the sandy beach, and the boy vows to try again tomorrow. Nolan's poetic construction conjoins two opposing imagesshort-lived sandcastles and the everlasting sands. Black quill-pen dots form a mosaic that outlines the boy's microworld, creating photograph-like pictures in halftones that exhibit startling clarity. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0027682404
• ISBN 13: 9780027682403
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32