Town Is by the Sea

Description

While a young boy enjoys a summer's day, his thoughts constantly return to his father, who is digging for coal deep under the sea. Stunning illustrations by Sydney Smith, the award-winning illustrator of Footpath Flowers, show the striking contrast between a sparkling seaside day and the darkness underground where the miners dig. This beautifully understated and haunting story brings a piece of mining history to life. The ever-present ocean and inevitable pattern of life in a mining town will enthral children and move adult readers, as a young boy wakes up to the sound of the sea, visits his grandfather's grave after lunch and comes home to a cosy dinner with his family, but all the while his mind strays to his father digging for coal deep down under the sea.

Joanne Schwartz was born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She is the author of a number of children's books including Our Corner Grocery Store, which was nominated for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. Joanne has been a children's librarian for more than twenty-five years. She lives in Toronto. Sydney Smith has illustrated multiple children's books, including The White Cat and the Monk, written by Jo Ellen Bogart, and the highly acclaimed Footpath Flowers, which was a New York Times Children's Book of the Year, a winner of the Governor General Award for Illustration and shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Born in Nova Scotia in Canada, Sydney now lives in Toronto. Find him online at hutten.org/sydney and on Twitter as @sydneydraws.

An atmospheric, haunting story about a young boy whose father digs for coal beneath the sea. The Bookseller This haunting book, beautifully illustrated in ink and watercolour, bears record to a long-gone way of life. [...]A book that demands to be studied and thought about. LoveReading, Andrea Reece "Written by Joanne Schwartz and delightfully illustrated by Sydney Smith, Town is by the Sea is a quiet book that will stay with readers long after they have closed it." Israel Book Review