The Magic of the Clam Flats

A Cape Cod tall tale of heartwarming surprises!

This story begins with hard times during the Great Depression in the seaside town of Wellfleet. It's a tough day when eight-year-old Nate's father fails to return to Wellfleet Harbor after a stormy fishing trip. Nate's worried mom asks Nate to take on the task of gathering enough clams to feed the family. Nate finds a helpful friend in a garrulous fiddler crab named Pokey, and amazing things happen. Not only does Nate learn to work hard, he builds a tower of clams that reaches high above the town. The urge to climb the tower culminates in Nate being able to see not only the tip of Cape Cod, but all the way across Cape Cod Bay to Boston, where he spies his father repairing his vessel at the Boston docks. The hard work and the good news have caused Nate to mature and grow, literally, into a young man. After climbing down and making sure the clam pile sinks back into the sand flats to be there for another day and saying good-bye to his new friend Pokey, Nate brings a full clam basket home for his happy mother to make dinner with as they wait for Dad's return. All ends well for Nate and his family. Suitable for youngsters from four years old to one hundred and four. Beautifully illustrated for the bedtime story crowd by Cape Cod artist Anne Rosen. 78 pages, 38 full page color illustrations.

Master Storyteller Jim Wolf spent two decades collecting and telling the oral stories of Cape Cod. Whether entertaining summer visitors or teaching the basics of theme related storytelling to public school students, Wolf's stories always honor the ancestors for their hardy lifestyles. Conservation and care of the natural environment are also important threads through the tapestry of his stories. As the Director of Sustainability of regional airline Cape Air, he has envisioned and put into place the measures to ensure the on-going story of Cape Air is one of an environmentally friendly action. Wolf's formative experiences as a Harvard student majoring in literature set him on his life quest for stories that inspire cooperative action.

Anne Rosen is a graphic artist and illustrator who studied fine arts at Syracuse University. This is the second children's book she has collaborated on with Jim Wolf, the first being When Santa Claus Met Sandy Claws. Rosen's love for the creatures of nature is evident in her illustrations. Other books she has illustrated: Provincetown: Stories from Land's End by Kathy Shorr, and Our Side of the Bridge by Lorraine Dickinson. She is also known for her illustrations for past columns in The Cape Codder newspaper.

Irene M. Paine is a fourteenth-generation Cape Codder who grew up hearing the stories of her hardy ancestors. She is the winner of the 2011 Silver Award for Regional Fiction for her historical novel "Eva and Henry, A Cape Cod Marriage." She lives with her husband storyteller Jim Wolf in the seaside town of Yarmouth, and enjoys writing with the Dune Hollow writers.