This week I read A Beach Tale, written by Karen Lynn Williams and illustrated by Floyd Cooper and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
A Beach Tale is a sweet father/son story.
A loving father gives his son instruction, but then allows the boy the freedom to obey. The son obeys and that, in part, allows him to find his way back to his father when he thinks he is lost. The concept was fresh and the story was well executed with lyrical text and with repetition coming in after each new discovery, to keep us grounded and remembering the father’s instruction.
I am amazed that with so few words, this author could tell us so many things. She told us about movement—about zigging and zagging and winding around things. And she told us about remembering a father’s authority and about the rewards of wisely obeying. It’s not a preachy tale, but it has a deep current running underneath the narrative.
I loved the pictures in this book, also. Done in chalk, they have a grainy feel that matches the beach. I loved the boy’s face, the water crashing over the rocks, the clouds in the sky, the color of the ocean…oh, this is simply a wonderful, wonderful book.
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tags: a beach tail, father son, floyd cooper, karen lynn williams, pb review, picture book, sally apokedak review
