THE SANDCASTLE

Wishes come true for a young artisan in this abbreviated teaching tale. Jack builds elaborate sandcastles, only to watch the sea wash them away. At last he angrily wishes on an unusual shell that his latest creation would grow to full size, with him as its king. That night, both wishes are granted—but even so, rising waves take this castle down too. While the castle’s merry residents turn to merfolk and swim away, Jack makes his third wish, and is wafted safely back to bed. The next morning he has not only accepted that the sea will always prevail, he’s come to realize how much better it is to be a boy building sand castles, than a king. Dramatically angled points of view give Robertson’s (The Egg, 2000) formal, carefully detailed paintings a measure of vitality, and Jack’s castles, whether sand or stone, are showstoppers; still, Jack’s change of heart comes without transition, and the lessons loom larger than the story’s events. (Picture book. 6-8)