HOPPY AND JOE

While his owner, Gino, tends his lemon ice stand, Joe, a big sand-colored dog, hangs out at the beach. He doesn’t realize how lonely he is until he teams up with Hoppy, a one-legged seagull stranded on the rocks. Joe gives Hoppy rides on his back up and down the beach, in search of food and a breeze to ruffle his feathers. Everything is grand until autumn arrives, and Gino decides to head south. Hoppy gallantly follows the sun, too, flying overhead, but eventually the poor gull’s wings give out. Joe heroically refuses to get back in the truck unless Hoppy gets a ride, too, and finally, Gino gives in. Readers looking for something to read at the beach, or to read when the beach is closed, will appreciate Paraskevas’s spry, sunny drawings, bright with the colors of the seaside and as welcome as a spray of waves on a hot day. (Picture book. 4-8)