BRINGING THE BEACH HOME

A father and child bond at the beach.

On Friday, like always, Rowan heads to Dad’s for the weekend. Rowan (apparently a child of divorce) is tired of constantly being driven between both parents’ homes, so Dad promises a special time tomorrow at the seaside. Rowan’s underwhelmed. The sand is too hot, and the crashing waves are too wet. But Rowan soon grows to love the beach: cavorting with the waves, dancing with the breeze. When the weather turns chilly, Dad says it’s time to go; Rowan’s crestfallen. So Dad keeps Rowan warm by covering the little one in a blanket of sand, decorated with shells, pebbles, and sticks; the youngster feels utterly at home. Deciding to take a bit of the beach with them, the pair return home and create a wind chime from objects collected at the shore. The wind chime initially hangs motionless—until a sudden breeze makes the pebbles and shells clatter and dance, like the waves. Rowan’s enchanted and, once again, feels at home. Suffused with light, the illustrations convey a tenderness matched by the matter-of-factly soothing text; this is an understated yet graceful portrait of a child channeling negative feelings into something beautiful. Rowan’s family is pale-skinned.

Delicately warm and lovely.