Come Again, Pelican - by Don Freeman (Hardcover)

About the Book

With the help of a pelican, Ty learns about the tide and fishing on his summer vacation.

Book Synopsis

From the creator of Corduroy, a newly restored classic picture book that celebrates a child's bond with the natural world.

Every summer Ty's family came to camp in their trailer at the same beautiful spot on the white sand dunes by the ocean. And every year, as long as Ty could remember, the same old pelican had welcomed them. This year, as soon as the trailer was parked, Ty pulled on his shiny red wading boots and ran with his fishing pole to look for his friend.

"Be sure not to lose those new boots of yours," his father said. And Ty didn't - not really. But by the time the tide had quietly crept in and as gently flowed out again, some surprising things had happened and both he and the pelican had made unexpected catches. What could they have been to make both boy and bird so happy when each swapped his catch with the other?

Pictures full of space and light and the shining colors of sky and sand and sea help to tell the delightful story of Ty's adventurous afternoon.

Review Quotes

Sometimes it's a breath of fresh air to read a book that understands the uncomplicated wonder of being a child. That's what we found in Come Again, Pelican. --Current Review

Freeman's simple colored pencil illustrations are full of excitement and action, with a retro feel that will delight adults, too. Worth savoring for its clever storytelling and understated reflection on God's creation. --WORLD Magazine

Freeman captures the wonder of children and their innocent natures, trying so hard to do good. The colorful illustrations are wonderful. --Kiss the Book Jr.

The colored pencil lines and bright, warm colors of the vintage illustrations ensure that this picture book honors a love of the sea. Ty has summered on the same beach with his family for years but never caught a fish. Following the lead of a beach mainstay, an old pelican, Ty learns about fishing, the tides, and the importance of paying attention. The illustrations beautifully capture a day at the beach, from the pale pink of dawn to the wine red of dusk. --Foreword Reviews

The simplicity of the story lends itself to a bedtime or naptime read. It is a treasure that I can imagine kids will want to listen to numerous times. First published in 1961, this story holds its own. It is not dated by either story or illustrations. --Youth Services Book Review

A small boy takes fishing lessons from a pelican on a wind-swept beach. His first fish, caught by accident in one of his new red boots, goes to the teacher as a reward for retrieving the other lost boot. The story, told with simplicity, humor, and originality, and the illustrations make the perfect blend of text and art that distinguishes a true picture book. The changing pattern of light on sky and water from early morning until night is caught in some of Mr. Freeman's loveliest pictures. Excellent. --Library Journal

An author and illustrator of many delightful books here presents one of the most lucid pictures of the ocean's tidal movements and their effect on one little fisherman. In the company of a friendly pelican who demonstrates his own skill as a fisherman, Ty parks his boots on shore and himself on a pole and waits for a bite. As the tide rolls in, it carries the red boots out and Ty with hook, line, and sinker retrieves one, enclosing a perfect fish. But the trick of the day is performed by the pelican, for as the tide rolls out and Ty walks back to his trailer, the delightful bird perched on a dune opens its mouth and returns to him the other boot. --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Don Freeman, creator of such popular children's books as Corduroy, Norman the Dorman, Mop Top, and Dandelion, was born in 1908 in Chula Vista, California. After graduating from high school in St. Louis, Missouri, he attended summer art school in San Diego. There he met his future wife, Lydia Cooley. They married in New York in 1932. Don struggled to earn a living playing trumpet in jazz bands. After losing his instrument on the subway one night, he turned to drawing. Soon his sketches of New York City appeared in the Herald Tribune, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and other publications. He was also an illustrator for William Saroyan and Brooks Atkinson. Before his death in 1978, he wrote and illustrated over thirty children's books, and was the illustrator for over a dozen other titles.