The Disappearing Island [Hardcover]

Corinne Demas (Author), Ted Lewin (Illustrator)

Book Description

"Can an island disappear?"

Carrie wonders about the mysterious island that her grandmother plans to take her to on her ninth birthday, a place that is visible only at low tide and the rest of the time remains a secret beneath the waves. When they finally make the trip to the island off the coast of Cape Cod, Carrie is amazed to find that it's nothing more than a flat stretch of beach in the middle of the sea. But as she and her grandmother set out to explore, Carrie discovers many treasures -- a broken brick in the sand, a piece from a lighthouse -- all traces of an island community that is long gone. The greatest treasures of all, though, are her grandmother's stories, which bring the past to life for Carrie -- and help her to appreciate the beauty and power of nature.

Illustrated with watercolors that are as brilliant as a summer day, "The Disappearing Island" captures the joy of sharing a secret place with someone special.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To celebrate her ninth birthday, Carrie's grandmother takes her on a boat ride to Billingsgate Island off Cape Cod, a tantalizingly mysterious real-life spot that has eroded over the years to just a sandbar that appears and disappears with the tide. There, they settle in for a picnic lunch and some beachcombing, while Grandma recounts some of the island's history. They find the remains of an old lighthouse, and later, while resting in the sun, Carrie imagines visiting the island a century ago, when it was home to a thriving community. Demas invests her finely etched blend of realism and fantasy with supple imageryAa "strange rusty creature that looked like the backbone of a whale" turns out to be a metal spiral staircase from a defunct lighthouse; the tide "claim[s] the edges of the beach." Working in his customary watercolors, Lewin (previously paired with Demas for Matthew's Meadow) conjures land- and seascapes bathed in dazzling summer light. From the vigor of the boat ride to Carrie's waking dream, rendered in a beachy, pale orange wash that gives it visual distinction, Lewin is wholly in control of his medium. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-This book is based on Billingsgate Island off the coast of Cape Cod, which has eroded over the past 150 years, changing from a prosperous fishing community to a sandbar that is only accessible at low tide. Carrie's grandmother has a unique ninth birthday gift for her: a sand dollar and trip to "the disappearing island." They motor out at low tide and spend the day finding the detritus of the past-a chimney brick, a rusty metal lighthouse staircase-and Carrie imagines herself as a part of island life when it flourished a century ago. Incoming tide forces an end to their visit. By the time they reach home, the island is gone until next turn of tide. This grandmother is refreshingly vigorous and her relationship with Carrie is warm and natural. Lewin's painterly watercolors are well suited to the setting with its sparkling sea and windblown shore. When Carrie imagines the past, she closes her eyes and "sees" things filtered through the orange of her eyelids closed against the sun. These pictures are effectively washed in pale orange to set off the imaginary time slip. This is really more a fragment of a story based upon a piece of interesting geography and history. It has no real dramatic tension, but it may make families think about what disappearing places they can share before it's too late.
Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068980539X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689805394
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,898,567 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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Disappearing Island, December 4, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Disappearing Island (Hardcover)

The Diasappearing Island by Corrine Demas is the story of a nine year old girl. On the little girls ninth Birthday, here grandmother gives here a perfect sand dollar saying that they will sail to the disappearing island. An Island the grandmoher visited as a child. This is a beautiful book with stunning water color illustrations by Ted Lewin.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disappearing Island, September 23, 2000

By 

Mary Ziller, Librarian - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Disappearing Island (Hardcover)

Based on actual events, this story is told by Grandmother to 9 year old Carrie, as they picnic on the remains of sunken Billingsgate Island, now visible only at low tide. Grandmother gives Carrie a sand dollar she collected on the island when she was Carrie's age. Carie collects a brick from the original lighthouse as proof that the island existed (for when she passes down Grandmother's oral history to her future granddaughter about the island that used to be). Illustrations by Ted Lewin, who won Caldecott Honor for "Peppe, the Lamplighter". Interesting author's note relates Billingsgate Island's fate to the sinking of Atlantis.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Disapearing Island, May 14, 2000

By 

Hadley (MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Disappearing Island (Hardcover)

this book has beautiful pictures and the writing is very realistic the disapearing island really makes you want to be there at the beach finding all those treasures