The Sea in the Way
by Sophie Gilmore (Author) Sophie Gilmore (Illustrator)
All Badger wants is to be close to Bear, but the vast, endless sea is in the way. Everything is terrible! Until Badger looks more closely and sees all the beauty--and all the connections to Bear--around her.
With dazzling artwork and undeniably lovable characters, acclaimed author-illustrator Sophie Gilmore's The Sea in the Way explores ways to cope with missing a loved one, and how to open yourself up to new experiences.
When it's bedtime for Badger, the sun is rising for Bear. Bear isn't there to tuck Badger in or hear about her day or spend time with her, except on the telephone. Missing Bear, Badger tries to cross the sea to reunite with her friend, but ends up getting tossed right back to where she started. The sea is always in the way! When the sea requests a few gifts in exchange for safe passage, Badger looks for something special. And looks and looks. Soon enough, she sees the wonders that surround her--and she even makes a new friend! In the end, Badger realizes that Bear may be even closer than she thought.
Readers of The Invisible String will find new friends in Badger, Bear, and Loud Bird.
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With soft colors and an attentive, furred protagonist, this tale of yearning carries the quietest of messages. Badger looks out her window, gazing wistfully at the vast, gray-green sea, whose texture and motion Gilmore (Terrific!) represents in muted watercolors and wispy ink strokes. Badger's friend Bear lives on the sea's other side, so far away that when Badger goes to bed, Bear is just getting up. In her loneliness, Badger approaches the in-the-way sea, and the body of water makes an offer: "Bring me something nice, and I'll let you cross." A new companion--a large, noisy bird with "feathers the color of a storm"--approaches Badger and helps with the search. But the sea makes another demand, and then another, a final ask that requires Badger to make a terrible choice. In Gilmore's austere, almost mythic images, the sea grasps at its desire with dozens of small waves that look eerily like hands. Though she's come so close to having what she wants, Badger reaches for a reframe (and a telephone) in this powerful story about learning to connect with faraway loved ones and care for one's immediate community, too. Ages 4-8. Agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary. (Sept.)
Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV002000 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | General
Friendship
Picture books
Badgers
