The Boy Who Held Back the Sea (Picture Puffins) [Paperback]

Lenny Hort (Author), Thomas Locker (Author), Mary Mapes Dodge (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Picture Puffins

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This retelling of the traditional Dutch folktale is coupled with Locker's masterful oil paintings, which recall well-known works such as Rembrandt's "Night Watch" and several Vermeers. A little boy, Pieter, is sent to his room because he has misbehaved. So his grandmother tells him of another bad boy, Jan, who held back the sea. Pieter serves merely as the framework for the account of the legend, which distances readers from the action. The scenery is magnificentluminous skies, light-infused landscapes, a tumultuous seacreating a chiaroscuro effect that recalls the Dutch masters. However, Jan is merely a detail in the paintings. The real thrust of the taleJan's mischief, his fear at the discovery of the leak, his determination, his misery through the night, the suffering and then pride of his parentsis lost in the paintings; the text is overshadowed by the grand scale of the artwork. All ages.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3 Grandmother tells Pieter, who has been sent to his room, the story of The Boy Who Held Back the Sea. Hort's adaptation of a story that appears in Mary Mapes Dodge's Hans Brinker is significantly longer with numerous changes and embellishments. More complex characters have been created, removing the story from the realm of fable and placing it into fiction. Jan is depicted as a troublemaker who tells tales about sea serpents to the dike's watchmen, plays hookey from church, and throws a rock through a school windowa complete opposite from the sunny-haired boy of gentle disposition who reads to a blind man in Hans Brinker. Both, however, become heroes when they observe a hole in the dike and plug it with a finger. Locker's arresting oil paintings, with their dramatic clouds, towering trees, and natural diffused lighting are suggestive of the 17th-Century Dutch landscape paintings made famous by Jacob van Ruisdael. The posed figures and the meticulously depicted objects in the opening and closing scenes are particularly reminiscent of Vermeer. Locker's depiction of nature overpowering humanity is especially significant to the story and to the Dutch people who have spent centuries battling the sea. Karen K. Radtke, Milwaukee Public Lib .
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (March 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140546138
• ISBN-13: 978-0140546132
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 10.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic tale, March 28, 2004

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Boy Who Held Back the Sea (Hardcover)

This book tells a version of the story of the little Dutch boy who holds back the sea with his finger. In this version, the boy is a bit naughty. He gets to skip church by offering to carry a pie to blind man, but then eats the pie himself instead of delivering it. When he finds the leaky dike, nobody believes him because he is known to be such a troublemaker. As a result, he ends up spending the night alone by the dike and has to endure a raging storm before he and the dike are rescued. The book is a little scary but it's a good engaging story. The pictures are all done in the style of the Dutch Masters. It has about 1000 words.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet childhood story - Pictures were phenomenal, October 9, 2007

By 

J. Syphert "to life to life, le chaim!" (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Boy Who Held Back the Sea (Picture Puffins) (Paperback)

My husband lived in the Netherlands for two years, so we've seen a few pictures and heard a few stories. When we checked this book out through the library, I knew we had to have it. The story is simple, and the pictures are amazing and penetrating classics.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sadly disappointed!, August 21, 2009

By 

Christian Reader (Lawrenceburg, TN USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Boy Who Held Back the Sea (Picture Puffins) (Paperback)

Although the pictures in this book were great, the story of the boy who "puts his finger in the dike" has been changed in this version to the point where it lacks any positive character building morals or lessons. I was sadly disappointed to realize that it would be detrimental to read this story to my son because of the portrayal of the boy in this story. If you wish your child to learn morals try the Hive of Busy Bee books, or the Stories with the Millers. Don't waste your money on this one.