I love Richard Pickard’s sea based stories, fantastic character names and imaginative settings. The Peculiar Tale of the Tentacle Boy was filled with a seaside town, superb puns and a wonderful story. Son of the Sea is equally as wonderful.
Caspar is often found swimming in his neighbour’s pond, splashing in fountains or dreaming of meeting his hero, Beryl the Bazooka. She is known for breaking records swimming the channel. Caspar feels an absolute need to be in water and his parents have moved them to the exact middle of the UK, as far away from water as you can get. They have no water in the house and drink a range of weird drinks as a replacement. You see, Caspar, has webbed toes and his parents want to protect him and keep him safe.
When a large cheese sends his parents to hospital, Caspar is sent to live with a grandmother he never knew he had, in a town by the sea that he is craving to swim in. Caspar cannot believe his luck with this and wants to immediately dive in! Unfortunately his grandmother also bans him from swimming. While Caspar breaks the rules, he nearly drowns but is saved by Beryl the Bazooka and it is an honour for him, meeting his hero.
Caspar dreams of swimming the channel and breaking a sixty year old record of being the youngest to do so. Beryl agrees to coach him and it is all done in secret. However, Ida, his gran, is also hiding secrets- about her, the family and the history of the town.
Completely bonkers in the best way possible, this is a story of being true to yourself, dreaming big and finding family!
I absolutely loved it. Keep writing more Richard- you have a brilliant talent for storytelling.
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