TIKI AND THE DOLPHIN: The Adventures of a Boy in Tahiti

by Christopher Lucas ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1974

. . .or the boy, the dolphin, and Paul Gauguin, as the artist plays a large supporting role in this would be Tahitian idyll about Tiki who finds and tames a dolphin, supplies his family with fish and oysters (and some pearls) that he finds on the atoll to which the dolphin leads him by an underwater passage, and keeps his pet a secret (from all but the bearded French artist) as the island's other males would kill the animal for meat. Gauguin's function is chiefly to advise and exclaim (on Tiki's native talent with paints, on the beauty of the atoll, etc.) and his cliched autobiographical monologues are neither fair to Gauguin nor part of Tiki's story. Otherwise, it is Paul who finds the battered, unconscious Tiki after a typhoon, and in the end Tiki saves his dolphin from frenzied natives who have been stirred up by the same greedy policeman who harrasses the artist. There is also a battle with a shark and much midnight romping with the dolphin, making this at best a common variety boys' adventure with an exotic setting.

Pub Date: June 1, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 174

Publisher: Vanguard

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1974

Categories: FICTION