Meet Me By the Sea

by Taltal Levi

Overview

When a spunky little girl finds that her parents are too busy to play, she decides to visit her favorite place on her own.

The familiar path lightens her step and her heart. And along the way she discovers a wonderful surprise.

Taltal Levi’s spare text and delicate pastel-hued illustrations celebrate courage, discovery, and the power of family.

"The highly relatable feeling of being invisible, the little girl’s independence, and the loving conclusion all add up to a satisfying picture book." - The Horn Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735844322
Publisher:	NorthSouth Books
Publication date:	02/02/2021
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Taltal Levi was born in the Galilee, Israel. She graduated from Lucerne University of Arts and Design with a degree in illustration fiction and has worked as a freelance illustrator since. In 2019 she was nominated for the Serafina Young Talent Award with her picture book debut A Little Courage. Taltal Levi works and lives in Basel, Switzerland.

Editorial Reviews

11/16/2020

A quiet journey of independence starts in a house where two adults are seen immersed in desk work. A frustrated pale-skinned child in a striped cap and laced-up boots stands bundled up for an outing, and leaves a note for the adults to find. “Sometimes I feel invisible to the world,” begins the narrative, “so I go to my favorite place where every tree and every bush is familiar.” In the woods, the protagonist steps across a stream, then sees a fox dart across the path. As the sun sets, the child spreads out a mat, then a sleeping bag. After dark, Levi (A Little Courage) paints the narrator gazing up at the sky, eyes wide, cap still on: “The night feels so vast and endless, and I feel so small.” But the fox reappears, and dawn holds an affirming surprise, then a happy reunion at a favorite spot by the sea. Levi’s rhythmic watercolor spreads carry most of the story’s emotion. The graceful curves of trees waving in the wind, the gold of the grass, and the russet of the fox testify to ways that solitude can give sustenance when people can’t, and offers refuge until they can. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

The highly relatable feeling of being invisible, the little girl’s independence, and the loving conclusion all add up to a satisfying picture book.

The Horn Book

Beguiling, velvety golds, russets, and greens dominate. Words and art combine to tell a story infused with mystery and wonder, a story that honors nature’s ability to provide a space for contemplation and maybe a little bit of healing.

7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast - Julie Danielson

Levi's detailed drawings add excitement to this simple story; the birds and animals create a sense of depth and character, as does the overnight scene in the center of the book...The social-emotional potential also abounds, providing caretakers and educators points of departure for conversations on bravery, independence, and loneliness. A soft-spoken marvel.

Children's LIterature Reviews

03/01/2021

PreS-Gr 2—This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the story of a young white child who feels invisible to her family; they are seemingly too busy on their devices to pay much attention to her. She takes to the great outdoors, where she sleeps among the creatures, and wakes up face to face with a friendly fox. As she settles down to look at a photograph of her family, they hike toward her, joining her by the sea. Sadly, there may be many children feeling like the heroine. But the journey of discovery, followed by an uplifting ending, will make young listeners and readers smile. The illustrations gently add visual cues to the spare telling. VERDICT Young children will love the setting, animals, and adventure in this reasonable addition to most shelves.—Betsy Davison, formerly at Homer Central H.S., NY

School Library Journal

2020-11-18
A bored kid’s uneventful participation in the childhood tradition of running away.

When a nameless early-elementary-age child feels “invisible to the world”—chiefly to her caregivers, busy with phones and computers in a dim, gray indoor space—the kid dons boots, stocking cap, and a bulky orange coat to go to “my favorite place,” leaving a note by the door. Soft-looking watercolor panels delineate the journey through a lightly wooded area, the child enjoying the apparent familiarity of the bushes, trees, and woodland creatures with whom they cross paths as the sun sets. Sparse, uninspired text (“things appear … / … and disappear”) accompanies and ultimately distracts from the well-executed storytelling present in Levi’s illustrations. The story’s intended climax seems to be the narrator’s discovery of a red fox that curls up at the foot of the sleeping bag, but with minimal expressions on both faces and a single line of text acknowledging the event, any emotions such an event might instill are dampened. The narrator and the fox walk to the seaside, where the child is joined by not-so-inattentive caregivers, and the three humans leave without the fox, who remains mindfully enjoying the view.

Bland writing in this Swiss-German import detracts from sweet illustrations, creating an uncompelling single read. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews