A House by the Sea - Hardcover

Ryder, Joanne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688126758 ISBN 13: 9780688126759

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1994

Synopsis

Describes what it would be like to live in a little house by the sea and frolic with seals and crabs and other sea creatures

About this title

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 2-A fanciful, lilting, rhyming story tells of a boy's wish to live in a seaside cottage in close association with rollicking seals; a smiling, crescent moon; a gentle whale; a nurturing octopus; and a dancing crab. The animals play with the boy and his friend (a little girl) and even do their housekeeping chores while the children savor the beach and ocean. Watercolors in sunny and cool pastels with minimal, cartoonlike figures are arranged informally in ragged ovals and squares as though bursting through their backgrounds. They show the youngsters, their dog, and the sea creatures cavorting joyfully over golden sands, in jade-green waters, and through the cozy cottage. The wit and charm of the pictures reflect the text to perfection.
Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews:

In verse that echoes both Milne's whimsical make-believe and the cadence of Poe's ``Annabel Lee,'' a child imagines living by the sea: playing with the seals (``When I got too wet/or they got too dry,/we'd hug and we'd run/and we'd yell, `Good-bye' ''); wishing on the moon; being cared for by an octopus (``With an arm doing this/and an arm doing that,/he'd cook and make my bed''); and so on. The idea isn't exceptional, but it's nicely developed; Ryder's verse has a lovely, musical lilt, while Sweet's delicate watercolors show the child and his companion, in snapshot-sized vignettes, playing along the shore while their imaginary activities are displayed in bubble-like vistas, airily framed with sky and sea and extending across the spreads. An attractive addition. (Picture book. 3-8) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0688126758
• ISBN 13: 9780688126759
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1
• Illustrator: Sweet Melissa