School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4Exhilirated by his first trip to the seashore, a young boy decides to capture a wave and bring it home. In this adaptation of an adult short story by Octavio Paz, Cowan uses language that dances along with the young protagonist as the wave floods the rooms of his house. At first, the boy and the wave enjoy a special friendship. Soon, however, he and his parents discover that the wave, subject to moods that change with the tides, has to go back to the ocean. At the end of the story, the child daydreams about bringing home a cloud, as ominous shapes appear in a patch of sky glimpsed through a window. Buehner uses acrylic and oil paints in richly colored, dramatic spreads to capture this flight of fancy. In one memorable scene, the boy wraps his arms around the wave, in the form of a geyserlike shower, in a loving embrace. In this spread, flashes of humor become more noticeablea cat and dog sit under an umbrella, while a tiny mouse peeks out from a sailboat on the mantel. Buehner inserts small details with such skill that they do not overpower or detract from the main story. Storytime audiences will be delighted by this unusual friendship and then awestruck by the mighty force of the wave, the power of which is revealed in a double spread of crashing surf and swirling sea monsters. A celebration of imagination from beginning to end.Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
A boy creates his own endless summer when he brings home a wave from the family's beach vacation in this fantasy based on a story by Nobel laureate Paz. "Paired with the expert text," said PW in a starred review, "Buehner's larger-than-life depictions of the free-spirited wave sweep readers away to their own imaginary shores." Ages 3-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
