Written by Anna Burger
Illustrated by Laura Craig
When his mother tells him they’re having pea soup for dinner, Jack wonders how he’ll survive. Then he comes up with a plan: he’ll catch his own seafood feast instead! Relying on skills learned from his grandfather, the resourceful boy embarks on a seaside adventure, casting for fish, digging for clams, and setting traps for blue crabs. In the process he learns that the only thing better than a basket full of crabs or a bucket full of clams is a heart full of appreciation for the natural wonders of the bay.
With playful prose and vivid watercolor illustrations, Pea Soup and the Seafood Feast teaches readers to value and sustain their environment with gratitude for life’s little gifts.
$19.95
Anna Burger lives with her husband and young son on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. She grew up on Onancock Creek, where she received her first boat at age 12 and learned how to crab and fish from her father and grandfather. After several years practicing law, she is now following her first love—writing.
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 28
ISBN: 978-1-9399304-6-0
Release date: August 1, 2015
“Pea Soup is a charming and endearing story with delightful illustrations.”
~ Thomas Docherty, author of Little Boat
“Young readers will enjoy the seashore adventures of a resourceful and independent boy who appreciates the magic of the natural world, like the camouflage of flounders and the dexterity of crabs. Jack’s decision to feast on pea soup rather than the creatures who fascinate him brings the story to a satisfying conclusion.”
~ Corinne Demas, author of The Disappearing Island
“Pea Soup and the Seafood Feast is filled with a love of everyday life on the water. I appreciate this story for reminding me of my childhood on lake Erie. Like Jack, I also returned fish to water—specifically a bucket of tiny minnows that I was going to use as bait. Anna Burger captures that sweet moment in life when we, like Jack, recognize our kinship to other creatures. Her words and Laura Craig’s watercolor illustrations also capture the beauty of the Mid-Atlantic.”
~ Jackie Urbanovic, New York Times best-selling author of Duck Soup
“A sweet story about a young boy’s adventures to avoid his mother’s pea soup by catching his own seafood dinner. The reader learns a few things about creatures from the sea, as well as compassion for all living things. Accompanied nicely with subtle watercolor illustrations.”
~ Frans Vischer, author and illustrator of Jimmy Dabble, Fuddles, and A Very Fuddles Christmas
“Bright illustrations enhance a gentle story that addresses a big dilemma in a small boy’s day – what to do when dinner threatens to consist of the dreaded pea soup. Jack discovers that solving his problem means making hard choices. The decisions he does make will help the reader to look at nature through different eyes. A clever, funny story.”
~ Pamela Duncan Edwards, author of Slop Goes the Soup
Laura Craig was raised on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and currently lives with her husband and daughters in Fredericksburg. A hobbyist painter all her life, she is now a professional artist, and is excited to have her first opportunity to call herself an illustrator as well.
