A Boy, His Dog and The Sea
Anthony Browne
Walker Books

To relieve his boredom, Danny’s mother suggests he takes the family dog, Scruff, for a walk on the beach, to which Danny responds, “The beach is boring. Nothing ever happens there.” She replies, “Keep your eyes open; you never know what you might see.” 

Off go Danny and dog onto the beach, Scruff excited, Danny downcast: he’d much prefer to be playing with his older brother. However having found a stick and tossed it into the sea, the boy is impressed when Scruff retrieves it for the first time ever. After spending some time playing that game, Danny feels weary so he sits on the shingle and starts examining the pebbles, discovering on close inspection, lots of interesting things.

After a while the two continue wandering along the strand till they come upon a number of people waving excitedly as they look out to sea: Danny looks too, wanting to know what they’re waving at. In the distance he spies a tiny person waving too.

Having thought for a bit, Danny points seaward: “Fetch, Scruff!” he says and the dog does as he’s bid, swimming fast at first, then losing pace but never giving up.

Eventually two figures emerge from the waves, one canine, the other human. But who is it? Danny is very surprised to hear a familiar voice praising him and calling him a hero, something Danny says should rightly be applied to Scruff.

From front to back endpaper, every page is a visual treat; one would expect no less from Anthony Browne: I love the rather portly person with tattoos all over his arms, the faces and other designs on and with, the stones, the clever cloud formations and all the other somewhat surreal things that emerge the more you look at these awesome illustrations. If you share this poignant story with a class or group rather than an individual child, make sure you give them plenty of time to peruse the pictures and leave the book available for further exploration and excited discussion.