The sound of the Sea

This moving tale explores the relationship between a young boy, Samuel Sullivan, and his mother. Samuel is remembering the precious times he spent with his mother before she became ill and went away. With the love and support of his grandparents, Samuel gradually starts to understand and little by little realises that although his mother is gone, she is with him always.

Jacqueline Harvey wrote this story one evening after an afternoon fishing trip to South Golden Beach, north of Byron Bay. A young boy about nine years old arrived with his fishing rod in hand accompanied by his very pregnant mother, and the pair evoked in her feelings of the incredible, often unspoken love, between a parent and child. Jacqueline began to think about a young boy she had known who had lost his mother at a young age, and the poignancy of his devastation and ultimate survival.

Samuel s anger, grief and eventual acceptance of his mother s death are brilliantly depicted in Warren Crossett s beautiful illustrations.