When I was growing up on the island of Cyprus, summer was all about going to the beach. Here in Oregon we have lots of beaches, but only nutters venture into the water because it is so cold. Sunbathing isn't really an option either much of the time because it is too chilly. Still, the beaches are beautiful and we all enjoy walking and tide pooling, and my husband spends hours looking for rocks.
Since summer is now officially here, I thought I would kick things off with a beach book. Enjoy!
Mr. Hulot at the beach
Since summer is now officially here, I thought I would kick things off with a beach book. Enjoy!
Mr. Hulot at the beach
David Merveille
Picture Book
For ages 5 and up
NorthSouth, 2016, 978-0-7358-4254-0
It is a sunny day at the seaside and Mr. Hulot is going
to spend some time on the beach. He has a deck chair, an umbrella, a tennis
racket and everything else a gentleman might need for such an expedition. He
buys a newspaper and then heads for the sands, where he fights with the deck
chair for a while trying to get it to cooperate. Which it does. Sort of.
As he reads his newspaper,
an inflated beach ball lands on Mr. Hulot. Some people might get upset by a disturbance
of this sort, but Mr. Hulot does not mind. He kicks the ball to the little boy
it belongs to and, in the process, Mr. Hulot’s shoe comes flying off and lands
in the water. He manages to rescue the shoe (using his shrimping net) and then
puts it on top of his umbrella to dry.
A passing
seagull sees the shoe and decides that it is just what it needs. It swoops down
and carries off the shoe, with Mr. Hulot in hot pursuit. Causing a great
disruption at the hotel, Mr. Hulot climbs up onto the roof of the building to
retrieve the shoe, only to find that the seagull has laid some eggs in it.
There is nothing for it. Mr. Hulot returns to the ground shoe-less.
One would think
that this escaped would be more than enough of an adventure for one man to have
during a sojourn at the seaside, but Mr. Hulot is not your average man and so
more misadventures lie in wait for him after he returns to the beach.
Inspired by the
work of the French comic actor and filmmaker, Jacques Tati, David Merveille
brings Tati’s wonderful Mr. Hulot character to life in this, his second, Mr.
Hulot book. The story is wordless and takes readers on a wonderful series of
mishaps that are sweetly funny.
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