My Life with the Wave by Catherine Cowan

Paired with the expert text, Buehner's larger-than-life depictions of the free-spirited wave sweep readers away to their own imaginary shores. And as lagniappe, a tiny surfing mouse, Scottie dog, cat, sea horse and other creatures are hidden throughout the artwork. Buehner's (The Adventures of Taxi Dog) forceful oil-and-acrylic paintings offer views from above and below the action, conveying the blue-green wave's power and movement. Based on a story by Nobel Prize laureate Octavio Paz, this. She caught my hand, and we raced away together across the sand. Any child who has caught a lightning bug or befriended a stray puppy will identify with the protagonist here. My first trip to the seashore, one wave tore away from the sea. Within the framework of a fantastic tale, she successfully introduces the larger idea of humans' age-old struggle to find a balance between taming nature and coexisting with it. Cowan's fluid adaptation is suffused with emotion. But nature takes its course as the wave's moods turn out to be as ''changeable as the tide.'' Her wild and unpredictable behavior spells the end of the wave's landlocked days, and as soon as winter weather freezes her solid, ''a beautiful statue of ice,'' the distressed family returns her to the ocean where she belongs. The wave adores her new surroundings, spraying foam as she rushes through the household, floating with the boy and rocking him to sleep. Stunning oil paintings shimmer with light and laughter in this unexpected, unforgettable tour de force. A boy creates his own endless summer when he brings home a wave from the family's beach vacation in this splashy fantasy based on a story by Nobel laureate Paz. The best-selling illustrator of Harvey Potters Balloon Farm teams up with Catherine Cowan in this buoyant fantasy of a boy who brings home a wave based on the story by Nobel laureate Octavio Paz.

My Life with the Wave by Catherine Cowan