A Boy, His Dog, and the Sea - by Anthony Browne (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Danny isn't expecting much excitement when he sets off with his dog, Scruff, for a walk on the shore. He would much rather play with his older brother, Mick, who's gone off to be with his friends. Scruff loves the beach, but Danny finds it boring. His mom tells him to keep his eyes open: "You never know what you might see." At the beach, a game of fetch leads to a close examination of sand treasures, until Danny spies an excited crowd waving at the ocean's edge. Is there anything he and Scruff can do to help?"--

Book Synopsis

A boy and his dog head to the beach and find that appearances can be deceiving in this story of an unexpected hero from former British Children's Laureate Anthony Browne.

Danny isn't expecting much excitement when he sets off with his dog, Scruff, for a walk on the shore. He would much rather play with his older brother, Mick, who's gone off to be with his friends. Scruff loves the beach, but Danny finds it boring. His mom tells him to keep his eyes open: "You never know what you might see." At the beach, a game of fetch leads to a close examination of sand treasures, until Danny spies an excited crowd waving at the ocean's edge. Is there anything he and Scruff can do to help? In this visually striking picture book, Anthony Browne turns his hyperrealistic lens to a story about an ordinary day that becomes something extraordinary.

Review Quotes

A dreary day at the beach takes an unexpected turn. . . . An illuminating and perceptive look at the quiet confidence in all of us.
--Kirkus Reviews

A dull day at the seaside yields to heart-pounding action. . . . Both a terribly highstakes adventure and a celebration of the act of looking closely--a favored theme of Browne's--this day at the beach will have young readers riveted.
--The Horn Book

A rescue tale with a cracking finale, it's also a story about learning to perceive, a theme pursued both in the story's narrative thread and in its delicately conceived and executed watercolor illustrations, in which elusive forms--animals, faces, and more--shift and change.
--Publishers Weekly

A rousing episode of doggy heroism and an exercise in pareidolia. . . A rock Danny picks up with markings that look like a face prompts him to take closer looks at his surroundings--and viewers cued to do the same will find that in his tranquil seaside scenes Browne, ever the master of surreal transformations, has hidden more faces, plus animals, foods, and other items . . . See if that happens in the real world, the episode challenges children to discover. An insight worth taking to heart--that just an extra bit of vigilance can turn ordinary sights and moments extraordinary.
--School Library Journal

About the Author

Anthony Browne is a former British Children's Laureate as well as a two-time winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal and the first British winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration. He has written and illustrated many acclaimed books, including Willy and the Cloud, Gorilla, What If . . . ?, Little Beauty, Hide and Seek, and Little Frida. Anthony Browne lives in Kent, England.