Customer Reviews

The Boy Who Held Back the Sea

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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.

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.

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.