Son of the Sea - Richard Pickard

I'm delighted to be sharing my review of Son of the Sea on the first day of the blog tour.

Casper loves to swim so much that he will swim anywhere: in his neighbour's pond, in puddles and even in the fountain outside the local supermarket.  Anywhere, in fact, other than a swimming pool or the sea for his parents have banned it.  They don't even have running water in the house so the only time Casper can shower is when it rains.  Casper's only dream in life is to swim the Channel and he frequently re-watches an old recording of his idol, Beryl the Bazooka, the oldest person to ever swim the channel.  It's a dream he thinks will never come true as he lives so far away from the sea.  However, when his parents become victim to an enormous runaway cheese, he is sent to stay with his grandmother Corallium whilst they recover.  Not only is Casper about to meet a grandmother he didn't know he had, but he is about to spend the summer living by the sea.  Can Casper finally get to swim in the sea and fulfil his greatest desire?

I loved the The Peculiar Tale of the Tentacle Boy when I read it (you can read my review here), so I was very excited when I was asked to be part of the blog tour for Son of the Sea and it most definitely lived up to my expectations.

Casper is a delightful main character and I love his determination and resilience.  It doesn't matter that he isn't allowed anywhere near the sea or a swimming pool, he'll swim anywhere he can - in fact the book opens with him swimming in his neighbour's muddy pond, accompanied by at least one frog.  It's evident that he lives for this and his webbed feet feel like something special to him; however his parents are obviously embarrassed by this, Casper just doesn't understand why.  Once he arrives in Corallium, he feels the pull of the sea more than ever, but also notices something strange going on with his grandmother.  It's down to Casper to discover what is going on.  Alongside Casper are a host of other wonderful characters that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and I think Beryl was my favourite: if I ever visit Corallium, I definitely want to meet her - Ida too.

The idea of Corallium made me chuckle: a seaside town full of old people where every shop and restaurant seems to cater for them.  

Son of the Sea is full of charm and chuckles and from the second we meet Casper, I promise you will be drawn into the story and will be fully invested in Casper's desire to swim in the sea.  Having read the acknowledgments, I understand how much the sea means to Richard as this shines out of the book and is completely reflected in Casper.

It would be remiss of me not to mention Ida, the grandmother Casper didn't know he had.  Like Richard (again, read the acknowledgments), I was blessed with grandparents well into adulthood and I spent many a happy summer in Scotland with my paternal grandparents.  As the book progresses and Casper and Ida's relationship develops, you see the love she has for him and I was sat reading, internally cheering that Casper was given this opportunity (not that I would wish giant cheese accidents on any parent!).  Son of the Sea is a delightful celebration of grandparents and the older generation; it reminds us that age is just a number and you can do anything you want to, no matter how old you are.

Richard Pickard wowed us with his warm humour in The Peculiar Tale of the Tentacle Boy and he's absolutely done it again with Son of the Sea.  It's a book about pursuing your dreams; about showing the world you are proud to be you, and about loving your family.  I can't wait to see what Richard writes next.

Update: a child in my class nabbed Son of the Sea last week as soon as it arrived in the classroom.  They gave it back to me this morning with this note: 'I liked this book because it represents friendship, determination and webbed feet.  I would definitely recommend it.'