Ocean Wide, Ocean Deep

A father has gone on a business trip to China, and his daughter yearns for his return. Because this story takes place during the 1800s, the father's voyage on sea lasts a good year, and he is unable to communicate with family members back home. He has gone to China to make deals for colorful silks, willowware porcelain, beautiful jade, and teak wood, all considered valuable treasures by the traders and well worth the time at sea. At home, his daughter watches the seasons change and her baby brother grow bigger while she waits for her father to come walking up the lane. This poignant story does an excellent job communicating the sadness and hope associated with missing a parent who is far away. Woven into the story is an important economics lesson about jobs and trade. The pencil and watercolor illustrations are absolutely stunning and further contribute to the book's timeless and international ambiance.

Ocean Wide, Ocean Deep is the story of a young girl whose father has sailed away for more than a year. He is working for the China Trade. You watch, with the young girl, as the seasons pass. Her baby brother begins to walk; there are storms, and a lonesome mother and girl who wonder about her father's adventures. And she wonders if he is thinking of her. While the book is set in the nineteenth-century, it is timeless. Even today children have parents far away, fighting in other lands. And even in the present day, children are concerned, lonesome and mark the passage of time with the daily things that surround them. Ocean Wide, Ocean Deep is a thoughtful story of love that seeks to limit the distance when people are apart. It also is a helpful resource for parents who must explain a temporary absence. Allen's illustrations are life-like, charming and capture the story in an inviting yet intimate manner. Armchair Interviews says: A must read.