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A review by bekahb00ks
Ocean Meets Sky by The Fan Brothers, Eric Fan, Terry Fan
4.0
Finn has grown up with tales from his Grandpa about the place where ocean meets sky, and even when his grandad is no longer around, those tales are very much alive for Finn. Building a boat to go on his own journey is Finn’s way of honouring his Grandpa’s memory and staying connected to him. We’re fully immersed in Finn’s journey through the library islands and the island of giant shells as a result of the incredible illustrations on every page. Full of small details and intertextual references, it’s as though we are there with him. This is certainly true of when he reaches where ocean meets sky, the wordless full-page bleeds transports us to this whole other world that Finn’s grandpa, now Finn, had discovered.
We never actually find out where the ocean meets sky, we just know that it does. To me, the implies that it can be in a different place for different people. Rather than it being a physical point on a map, maybe it has more of a metaphorical meaning. In Finn’s case it may well be that the point at which ocean meets sky, is where he feels most connected to his grandpa and that despite the fact he misses him, he knows there is still a place out there where his Grandpa is very much alive.
Grief and loss are a part of everyone’s life and including it in children’s literature is key in terms of normalising the feelings associated with it. Whilst other books, may approach the topic in a different way, Ocean Meets Sky is still a great one for the collection.
We never actually find out where the ocean meets sky, we just know that it does. To me, the implies that it can be in a different place for different people. Rather than it being a physical point on a map, maybe it has more of a metaphorical meaning. In Finn’s case it may well be that the point at which ocean meets sky, is where he feels most connected to his grandpa and that despite the fact he misses him, he knows there is still a place out there where his Grandpa is very much alive.
Grief and loss are a part of everyone’s life and including it in children’s literature is key in terms of normalising the feelings associated with it. Whilst other books, may approach the topic in a different way, Ocean Meets Sky is still a great one for the collection.