Sandmare is a horse drawn in the sand on a beach by a girl named Polly and her father. Pleased with their creation, Polly laments the inevitability of the Sandmare’s being washed away by the tide. But Polly makes a wish that the Sandmare could run free – and at the same time the Sandmare wishes herself, so the wish is very strong. After Polly has left, the Sandmare is able to stand up and run free. Now she must reach the stars, or at sunrise she will turn back into sand. How can she do this? The first step will be to find the girl named Polly . . . The exciting adventure that ensues is accompanied by numerous lively drawings by Ted Dewan.
Well-known for her award-winning picture books, Helen Cooper displays her immense talents in the very different realm of the early chapter book with this charming new fantasy.
Helen Sonia Cooper is a British illustrator and an author of children's literature. She grew up in Cumbria, where she practiced literature and piano playing. She currently lives in Oxford. Cooper has twice been awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), recognising the year's best children's book illustration by a British subject. She won for The Baby Who Wouldn't Go To Bed in 1996, which she wrote and illustrated. In 1998 she won for Pumpkin Soup, which she also wrote and illustrated. They were consecutive projects for her. Beside winning the two Greenaway Medals (no one has won three), Cooper made the shortlist for The Bear Under the Stairs (Doubleday, 1993) and Tatty Ratty (Doubleday, 2001). As well as her solo picture books, Cooper writes picture book texts for other illustrators, and also illustrates her own middle grade fiction - most recently, The Taming of the Cat' published by Faber and Faber in the UK. WorldCat reports that Pumpkin Soup is her work most widely held in participating libraries.
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