Riptide - Softcover

Frances Ward Weller holds a life-long love for the sea. She spent her childhood in Connecticut and graduated from Mount Holyoke College in western Massachusetts. Having spent twenty years in New Jersey raising their children, she and her husband Frank now live on Cape Cod, spending as much time as possible exploring its shores for inspiration for many of her stories.
Robert J. Blake is an experienced illustrator who has worked on over thirty books for both children and adults. He works directly from life for many of his illustrations and enjoys traveling to do so, having painted in Ireland, the UK, Bermuda, and Cape Cod, among others. When not traveling, Mr. Blake lives in New Jersey.

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- Zach's dog is no ordinary dog. He's strong, energertic, in constant motion, and loves the ocean, thus living up to his name, Riptide. He's a terror on the beach, a pest to sunbathers, and an annoyance to the beach patrol. He's a year-round beach bum, and a nuisance to all but Zach--until he saves the life of a little girl who's caught in a real riptide. This is a good, solid story, with terse, rhythmic writing. The oil paintings are majestic in their sweeping, panoramic views of the ocean and beaches and countryside of Cape Cod. Riptide almost leaps off every page, so expertly captured are his vitality and love of his turf. This is a book that must be read aloud and savored, so that young listeners can hear the rich text and imagery that resounds like the rolling sea. A rip-roaring good adventure story starring a memorable canine character who's neither sentimentalized nor anthropomorphized. --Trev Jones, School Library Journal
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