Dolphin Boy

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Jim lives in a fishing village--but no one goes fishing anymore as all the fish have gone. One day, Jim spots a dolphin beached on the sand. He runs to get help and everyone works together to return the dolphin to the water. Afterwards, the dolphin stays in the harbor, playing with the swimmers--and it even carries Jim on its back. Then the dolphin disappears, and everyone is so sorrowful that they take out a boat to see if they can find him. Suddenly, the sea is boiling with dolphins leaping out of the water. They have come to stay--and the village comes to life--with tourists, and money, and mended boats, and dolphins!

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

The renowned team's newest collaboration celebrates a collective act of kindness. Hard times have come to a small fishing village--but when a lad spots a beached dolphin, everyone rushes out to the rescue without a second thought. The dolphin, nicknamed "Smiler," sticks around for a bit to entertain the boy and the other children, then vanishes--to return with dozens of relatives, whose playful presence draws crowds of tourists that put the town back on its economic feet. Foreman illustrates the episode with typically luminous watercolors, capturing the emotional connection between boy and dolphin, and the wonder on the faces of the onlookers, in exuberant, splashy scenes. A happy tale that carries the now almost contrarian idea that good deeds indeed are, occasionally, properly rewarded. (Picture book. 7-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.