Cherry and her four older, rowdy brothers love being on a hideaway beach they found years before. Their family has rented a small granite
cottage for the summer holidays as long as she can remember, and below it is a private beach, with rock pools and lots of fun to be had.
This year, Cherry decides she is going to make a necklace from small shells scattered through the sand. It stretches across their holiday house kitchen, but isn’t quite long enough yet. Her brother and mum ask her who it is for, as it is sooo long.
“It’s for a giant,” she said.
Her brothers laugh, and her mum warns that they are going home tomorrow. But Cherry is determined to finish it. Some more time spent on their tiny beach will do the trick.
Later, down on the beach, Mum reads, dad dozes and the boys dive, snorkel and swim, while Cherry gathers more shells. Her family leave one by one reminding her to watch the tide and not to swim alone. But the tide sneaks up on her and she is cut off from safety.
As she tries to leave, the waves have other ideas. She decides to climb above them instead, up the rocky cliff. Hang on… She looks again. There is a light coming from higher up…
At only 80 pages, this is a quick read, but Michael Morpurgo’s skilled storytelling and the dozens of expressive pencil sketches throughout by illustrator Briony May Smith, make it seem so much more.
The family dynamics are explained in only a smattering of sentences but the reader will feel the love in it, even as friendly teasing is the norm.
Just as we all do at some time, character Cherry is so focused on her task (gathering shells), that everything around her changes and the task suddenly isn’t the most important after all.
A twist in the ending will surprise readers leaving them wondering about this family after they put this book down.
Author – Michael Morpurgo
Illustrator – Briony May Smith
Age – 9+
(2022, Walker Books, Summer Holiday, Beach, Shells, Tide, Cut off, Rock climb, Twist in the tale, Cave, Family, Brothers, Necklace, Project, Siblings, Teasing, Secret, Mystery)