Come Again, Pelican

By Don Freeman

Coming in May 2024: From the creator of Corduroy, a newly restored classic picture book that celebrates a child’s bond with the natural world.

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Available Formats:: Hardcover

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About The Book

Every summer Ty’s family came to camp in their trailer at the same beautiful spot on the white sand dunes by the ocean. And every year, as long as Ty could remember, the same old pelican had welcomed them. This year, as soon as the trailer was parked, Ty pulled on his shiny red wading boots and ran with his fishing pole to look for his friend.

“Be sure not to lose those new boots of yours,” his father said. And Ty didn’t – not really. But by the time the tide had quietly crept in and as gently flowed out again, some surprising things had happened and both he and the pelican had made unexpected catches. What could they have been to make both boy and bird so happy when each swapped his catch with the other?

Pictures full of space and light and the shining colors of sky and sand and sea help to tell the delightful story of Ty's adventurous afternoon.

About The Author

Don Freeman

Don Freeman, the creator of Corduroy and other beloved storybook characters, wrote and illustrated over thirty children’s books. Read More

Acclaim

An author and illustrator of many delightful books here presents one of the most lucid pictures of the ocean's tidal movements and their effect on one little fisherman. In the company of a friendly pelican who demonstrates his own skill as a fisherman, Ty parks his boots on shore and himself on a pole and waits for a bite. As the tide rolls in, it carries the red boots out and Ty with hook, line, and sinker retrieves one, enclosing a perfect fish. But the trick of the day is performed by the pelican, for as the tide rolls out and Ty walks back to his trailer, the delightful bird perched on a dune opens its mouth and returns to him the other boot.

Kirkus Reviews
A small boy takes fishing lessons from a pelican on a wind-swept beach. His first fish, caught by accident in one of his new red boots, goes to the teacher as a reward for retrieving the other lost boot. The story, told with simplicity, humor, and originality, and the illustrations make the perfect blend of text and art that distinguishes a true picture book. The changing pattern of light on sky and water from early morning until night is caught in some of Mr. Freeman’s loveliest pictures. Excellent.

Library Journal