The Boy Who Held Back the Sea

This is about a little boy who lies to his mom about where his going but it turns out he actually finds out that

This is th Dutch version of the boy who cried wolf. Jan is always trying to arouse concern about enemy soldiers and sea monsters, so when he claims dam is leaking, no one believes him, though the constable tells him to go back and that he will follow with help. Jan goes back alone and puts his

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finger in the dike, but no help comes. Someone comes by and goes for help, but unfortunately he isn't believed and is arrested for disorderly conduct. Finally in the early morning the schoolmaster wanders by.

Book Review, Pierce Colle Ages: (4-7)

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I like this book for its illustrations, plain and simple. I enjoyed the simple retelling of the classic tale, but it was Thomas Locker's epic landscapes that did it for me here.

Jan had never done anything more heroic than shout for the guard because he'd imagined he'd seen a sea serpent. But when Jan discovered water trickling through a desolate stretch of the dike that protected his low-lying village, he knew he had to act fast.

Jan is a young boy who takes an adventure by the sea and becomes a town hero by saving it from washing it away.

Incredible paintings byThomas Locker make this book a wonderful delight for eyes. He uses the style of the old Dutch masters, appropriate, I think for this legend of the hole in the dike and boy who held back the sea.