Product Description

My first trip to the seashore,
one wave tore away from the sea.

She caught my hand, and we raced
away together across the sand.

Based on a story by Nobel Prize laureate Octavio Paz, this delightful tale of a boy and his pet wave is charmingly retold with beautiful new illustrations. See if you can find the hidden cat, dog, mouse, whale, and sea horse in almost every picture!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #569763 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03
• Released on: 2004-03-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060562007
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 4. When a boy brings a wave home from vacation, he is crestfallen to discover that his new friend's capricious nature. This story undulates with imagery-rich language and buoyant paintings.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Scientific American
Based on a story by Octavio Paz, this picture book has an odd plot indeed; a boy bonds with a wave at the beach and takes it---actually, her, according to the book---home as a liquid pet, until the onset of winter storms makes her unruly and re-quires her return to the sea. What makes this personification successful where so many others fail is its bold straightforwardness: the wave is treated with a certain poetic realism instead of whimsy. Though the language sometimes gets a bit baroque for the intended audience ("To touch her then was like touching a piece of night tattooed with fire"). The conceptual play will engage them ("If I caught and hugged her, she would r ise up tall like a liquid tree, then burst into a shower and bathe me in her foam"). and there's some matter-of-fact humor ("My parents say good riddance to bad waves and I am never to bring home another"). Buehner's art is not in punning watercolor but rather in acrylic and oil; the illustrations have a hyperrealistic sheen and solidity that allow for exaggeration (the bug-eyed cat in particular) without floating off into frothy fancy. If you're look ing for an offbeat pet story, catch this wave.

From The New Yorker
Based on a story by Nobel laureate Octavio Paz, My Life with the Wave is an extraordinary tale of a boy who befriends a wave at the seashore. He brings her home and at first she floods the house "with light and air, driving away the shadows with her blue and green reflections." Her moods, however, are as changeable as the tides -- and soon the boy has much more on his hands than he can handle. Catherine Cowan's translation is beautiful and Mark Buehner's illustrations are stunning. Buehner's hidden images enhance the fun. He has concealed a cat, a mouse, a dog, a whale and a sea horse in almost every illustration. This book should not be missed.

Customer Reviews

beautifully drawn and very entertaining
this book plays on the beliefs of a child; wanting the impossible. i must admit that i wanted a wave of my own after reading this book! the artwork is magnificent, the dialogue is intriguing yet understandable...this is a MUST have for anyone with children...or anyone with an imagination.

fantastic illustrations will capture the imagination
This is a translation and retelling of an Octavio Paz story about a boy who befriends a wave on his first trip to the seashore and brings it home with him "cup by small cup". The ensuing problems associated with domesticating a wave, while amusing and delightful, prove to be too much for the boy's family. They finally cleverly figure out how to take the wave home. Cowan's fluid adaptation suggests a love of language and fidelity to the original. Buehner's vibrant, colorful full-page illustrations capture the humor and silliness as well as the drama of the tallish-tale. Good design handsomely combines text and pictures to make this an outstanding book.

"My Life With the Wave" is extraordinarily imaginative
I love books that begin with a fanciful, "what-if" premise. In this case, what if a sliver of the sea -- a wave -- followed a family home from the beach like a stray animal? The illustrations, humorous in a borderline-grotesque way, capture the muscular spirit of this fantasy. I need not convince my children to read this story again and again, and they need not waste time coaxing me. I love it because it permits every reader to imagine the delightfully surreal.