Caleb's Friend

Nones's ( The Canary Prince ) exquisite paintings and spellbinding narrative deserve equal credit for making this book magnificent. Setting his affecting tale in a bygone era, Nones portrays the bond between Caleb, a boy who works on a fishing boat, and an ethereal, silver-hued being who is half-boy, half-fish. They meet one night, when Caleb's harmonica--a gift from his deceased father--drops from his tired hands into the water. Caleb thinks he is dreaming when the sea-boy retrieves the lost object and places it on the deck. The sound of Caleb's harmonica encourages another visit from the sea-boy, to whom Caleb hands a wild summer rose, ``the only gift he could think to offer.'' These romantic elements--poignant tunes; wild roses; etc.--counterpoint a taut plot wherein the two friends variously deliver each other from grave danger. In a powerful union of graphics and words, Nones uses a dusk-colored palette for his haunting, strikingly detailed depictions of the sailing vessels and dress of a simpler time. But most memorable of all are his renderings of the ocean as it reflects the luminous white light of the full moon or the multicolored rays of the sun--these images are truly breathtaking. Ages 5-8. (June)