The Boy Who Was Generous with Salt [Hardcover]

Corinne Demas Bliss (Author), Corinne Demas (Author), Michael Hays (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

Boy Who Was Generous With Salt is a Marshall Cavendish publication.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-A well-told story with distinctive characters. In 1850, Ned, an eight-year-old Cape Cod boy, takes a job as a cook on a fishing schooner in order to support his mother and his younger siblings. While Ned finds the life difficult, he makes friends with the crew and becomes especially fond of an older sailor who is in charge of salting the cod. Ezra explains that the vessel will return home when the salt runs out. Ned wastes the preservative whenever possible, hoping to return to port in time for his birthday. Therefore, he is surprised when Ezra announces that the salt, which Ned knows was not in short supply, is gone. Readers will sympathize with the child and share his joy when he is able to celebrate his special day with his family. There is also humor, particularly when the crew plays a trick on him and everyone enjoys the joke. The illustrations, in soft pastel watercolors, are evocative of the sunlit journey. Hays uses full-page spreads and smaller-scaled illustrations effectively, and children will be fascinated by the drawings of the schooner in full sail. The tale is based on an actual narrative by Joshua Taylor, who signed on as a sailor at age nine. Because it is based on primary sources, it should meet some of the new curriculum demands and will be useful for American history units.
Barbara Buckley, Rockville Centre Public Library, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Demas is a Marshall Cavendish author.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Children's Books (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761450998
• ISBN-13: 978-0761450993
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,489,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Corinne Demas is the author of two collections of short stories, three novels, a memoir, a collection of poetry, a play, and numerous books for children. She is Professor of English at Mount Holyoke College and a fiction editor of the Massachusetts Review. Before the year 2000, she published her books under the name Corinne Demas Bliss.

Corinne grew up in New York City, in Stuyvesant Town, the subject of her memoir, "Eleven Stories High: Growing Up in Stuyvesant Town 1948-1968". She attended Hunter College High School, graduated from Tufts University, and completed a Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. She lived in Pittsburgh for a number of years, teaching at the University of Pittsburgh and at Chatham College.

She lives with her family in Western Massachusetts and spends the summer on Cape Cod. You will find more information at her website: www.corinnedemas.com