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Waiting for High Tide
For one young boy, it’s a perfect summer day to spend at the beach with his family. He scours the high tide line for treasures, listens to the swizzling sound of barnacles, and practices walking the plank. But mostly he waits for high tide. Then he’ll be able to swim and dive off the log raft his family is building. While he waits, sea birds and other creatures mirror the family’s behaviors: building and hunting, wading and eating. At long last the tide arrives, and human and animal alike savor the water.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2016
5 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Nikki McClure
36 books95 followersNikki McClure of Olympia, Washington is known for her painstakingly intricate and beautiful paper cuts. Armed with an X-acto knife, she cuts out her images from a single sheet of paper and creates a bold language that translates the complex poetry of motherhood, nature, and activism into a simple and endearing picture.
Nikki McClure is a self-taught artist who has been making paper-cuts since 1996. As one of the more prominent visual artists involved with Olympia-based record labels K and Kill Rock Stars, as well as the Riot Grrrl movement in the early nineties, her work still embodies the fiercely independent fire that fueled the passion and creativity of that time period. She lives in Olympia, Washington.
Nikki McClure is a self-taught artist who has been making paper-cuts since 1996. As one of the more prominent visual artists involved with Olympia-based record labels K and Kill Rock Stars, as well as the Riot Grrrl movement in the early nineties, her work still embodies the fiercely independent fire that fueled the passion and creativity of that time period. She lives in Olympia, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
July 20, 2016
I just came from a weekend family reunion on a small lake maybe a half an hour east of Stevens Point, Wisconsin (no, I'm not going to tell you exactly where; nor would I reveal what trout stream holes have been golden for me, nothing personal). Some places are sacred. There I fish, I swim, I run the two miles around the lake--sometimes twice--I once a year swim across the lake and back, close to two miles round trip. We watch eagles, pileated woodpeckers, Sand Hill cranes. Finches, flying squirrels, and two dozen hummingbirds come to the bird feeders on the porch overlooking the lake. We kayak, we canoe, we lay on our backs in the water and take in the deep blue sky as the clouds drift by.
Two nights ago we saw, for the first time in several years, what we think is now a more than fifty year old snapping turtle, sleeping near shore just under the water, bull frogs honking all around us in the dark. In the morning I rose to the sound of a pair of loons across the misty lake, their two new babies trailing behind, as I saw through the binoculars.
I could have done these very things I describe above there fifty years ago, and described them in the very same way. The world is changing in incredible and incredibly fast ways, but not everywhere, it seems.
So reading this book by author and illustrator Nikki McClure about building a boy building a raft with his parents and shoving off when the tide was ready at the southern end of the Salish Sea near Olympia, Washington, feels both present and possible and also nostalgic, a summer adventure of Huck and Jim on the Mississippi and yet very much western, and not a river. Last summer we drove the Oregon coast down from Seattle through the Redwoods to see whales breech at Monterey Bay, so this story resonated with me just a little because of that. I have several times visited this area, but I bet families that live there or on any ocean like it might find it even more than I did.
The story is pretty detailed and austere and carefully observed about the seascape and the making of a raft, and as she says, the illustrations were made by cutting black paper with an x-acto knife and using a fountain pen. If you only live in a city this story may just be a little too slow for you. But if you have ever lived for a time on a lake or an ocean, and have collected shells and gull feathers and skipped smooth stones along the shore; if you have ever taken the time to know the names of the birds and trees around you--sculpins and kingfishers and gulls and eagles and crows and herons for McClure--to see how much it matters that otters and seals swirl around you, and that you live all day according to the rhythm of the tides, then you might like this book. I did.
Here's some websites with information on the tides she includes in the book:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov
http://www.dairiki.org/tides/monthly....
Two nights ago we saw, for the first time in several years, what we think is now a more than fifty year old snapping turtle, sleeping near shore just under the water, bull frogs honking all around us in the dark. In the morning I rose to the sound of a pair of loons across the misty lake, their two new babies trailing behind, as I saw through the binoculars.
I could have done these very things I describe above there fifty years ago, and described them in the very same way. The world is changing in incredible and incredibly fast ways, but not everywhere, it seems.
So reading this book by author and illustrator Nikki McClure about building a boy building a raft with his parents and shoving off when the tide was ready at the southern end of the Salish Sea near Olympia, Washington, feels both present and possible and also nostalgic, a summer adventure of Huck and Jim on the Mississippi and yet very much western, and not a river. Last summer we drove the Oregon coast down from Seattle through the Redwoods to see whales breech at Monterey Bay, so this story resonated with me just a little because of that. I have several times visited this area, but I bet families that live there or on any ocean like it might find it even more than I did.
The story is pretty detailed and austere and carefully observed about the seascape and the making of a raft, and as she says, the illustrations were made by cutting black paper with an x-acto knife and using a fountain pen. If you only live in a city this story may just be a little too slow for you. But if you have ever lived for a time on a lake or an ocean, and have collected shells and gull feathers and skipped smooth stones along the shore; if you have ever taken the time to know the names of the birds and trees around you--sculpins and kingfishers and gulls and eagles and crows and herons for McClure--to see how much it matters that otters and seals swirl around you, and that you live all day according to the rhythm of the tides, then you might like this book. I did.
Here's some websites with information on the tides she includes in the book:
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov
http://www.dairiki.org/tides/monthly....
April 6, 2016
I love Nikki McClure's distinctive illustrations and this story about a young boy and his adventures building a raft and exploring the beach perfectly capture tide pool and beach flora and fauna. Lots of descriptive language.
January 29, 2018
I do enjoy everything Nikki McClure creates. My son lived along the Salish Sea!
July 23, 2022
I’ve spent many a day watching tide pools and waiting for the tide to change. Gorgeous descriptions of the teeming life at the Pacific ocean’s edge.
December 14, 2016
McClure is a highly touted author, and her cut paper pictures are truly impressive. Books like this have a lot of appeal for adults, but the art style combined with the long text make this much less accessible for kids. Robert McCloskey did this sort of thing in books like <3 One Morning in Maine, and his books have shown their kid appeal by lasting for generations. I don't think that McClure's will do the same.
October 14, 2016
This is a non fiction story. It is long and 6 year olds will not sit through it all in one reading. The word count is huge. It gives a lot of information about high tide and low tide, barnacles, gulls, kingfisher, heron, building a raft and the Salish sea near Olympia, Washington. The illustrations are all blacks, blue, and ink or a fountain pen. The reading level is above 3rd grade. I do not recommend this as a bedtime book or a read aloud to an audience of small children. More for children to read and study and learn about the sea and creatures at high and low tide.
May 25, 2021
The illustrations (black paper cut with X-acto knife) are lovely. I like the full page spreads and the selective use of color. The prose uses subtle descriptive language to envelope the reader in the experience of waiting.
The story is about one child waiting all day for high tide and the things they discover as they wait. This is a longer picture book, so I would recommend it as a read together for a child who is able to sit patiently, or an older reader who can understand the florid language.
The story is about one child waiting all day for high tide and the things they discover as they wait. This is a longer picture book, so I would recommend it as a read together for a child who is able to sit patiently, or an older reader who can understand the florid language.
May 29, 2025
Waiting for High Tide is such a lovely, peaceful book. Nikki McClure’s art is as beautiful as ever—detailed, thoughtful, and full of life. The story follows a boy spending a day at the beach with his family, and it perfectly captures that slow, dreamy feeling of summer days spent waiting, watching, and exploring.
I loved how the whole family joined in with cannonballs, how the boy explored the tide line for treasures, listened to the swizzling of barnacles, and practiced walking the plank. There’s a meditative quality to the way the day unfolds—full of anticipation, observation, and joy in the natural world. As the tide rises, animals and humans alike move in harmony, sharing the beach, the water, and the moment.
This book is a beautiful ode to living close to nature and the satisfaction of creating with your hands. McClure brings great warmth, clarity, and care to both her words and illustrations.
I loved how the whole family joined in with cannonballs, how the boy explored the tide line for treasures, listened to the swizzling of barnacles, and practiced walking the plank. There’s a meditative quality to the way the day unfolds—full of anticipation, observation, and joy in the natural world. As the tide rises, animals and humans alike move in harmony, sharing the beach, the water, and the moment.
This book is a beautiful ode to living close to nature and the satisfaction of creating with your hands. McClure brings great warmth, clarity, and care to both her words and illustrations.
August 11, 2025
I really like the illustrations, especially the facial expressions on the children, but I struggle to rate it because it is classified as a children’s picture book by libraries. Checking two libraries, I found the same. This puts it in the same section as Goodnight Moon & Dr. Seuss books. Yet, Children’s Library Journal & the publisher call it an “early reader book.” I don’t think this book would hold the attention of a preschooler discovering it with the picture books. It’s all scientific descriptions, and the illustrations are more artsy than younger children would appreciate. Very educational for a school age child interested in marine science, but not for a little one. Bottom line: I think the libraries need to move it to the children’s section to be discovered!
July 17, 2017
fantastic illustrations, but when I arrived at the line 2/3 of the way thru the story "I've waited to long" that is how i felt about the book and its storyline.
the narrative felt tedious and overflowed with information, but just too much information for the young audience that the books seems geared to.
the narrative felt tedious and overflowed with information, but just too much information for the young audience that the books seems geared to.
May 26, 2017
Started reading this, then started to force myself to read this--after getting wigged out at the wearing of the barnacle glasses and the long blocks of pedantic text--then forced myself just to skim this and not give up. *Sigh*
April 23, 2018
I love the papercut illustrations and the fact that this is set where I lived in Washington. The text is an info dump on nearly every page: interesting (for me), but way too wordy with some big vocab words. I’m not sure who the intended audience is.
May 28, 2019
Absolutely loved the illustrations of sea life. It took me back to summers spent at with my grandparents at the beach near their home. It was full of information about sea life all wrapped up in a cute story about an impatient kiddo wanting to swim and having to wait.
April 23, 2025
Beautiful illustrations and an informative story. The author does a great job at sharing facts while also keeping the story fun enough to keep children engaged! Definitely a longer picture book so it might be harder to get it into a story time but I had lots of fun reading it.
December 28, 2016
Charming book about a young boy and family who build a swimming raft. Cleverly illustrated (those with a fine eye for detail will be rewarded) and informative, Waiting for High Tide is a keeper!
September 4, 2017
3.5 Stars. A lovely book.
January 4, 2018
The text is a bit dense, but some of the spreads are truly beautiful ocean-inspired still-lifes. For the beach lovers, this book moves the soul.
June 27, 2020
I wanted to love it, but the girls didn't even make it all the way through.
May 26, 2021
Love what I learned about barnacles, especially the noise they make when the tide comes in, feeding and maybe telling stories of what they see with their one eye as they swim around the world.
July 16, 2022
Not a Storytime read but a great lap book. Illustrations are great.
April 9, 2023
Beautiful and poignant
January 9, 2025
This feels like a lazy day at the beach, and the illustrations are lovely.
February 6, 2025
As much as I love discovering the exposed critters at low tide, this story was soooo tedious. Long and pretty snoozy. The cut paper illustrations are cool though.
March 22, 2017
A boy describes the ocean life around him and how his family is building a raft to float out into the water at high tide. Very descriptive. Length makes it one on one or upper level.
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February 4, 2017Illustrations like I've never seen in a picture book!
March 31, 2016
On a summer day, a boy waits for high tide. He’d love to swim but he’d just get muddy or even stuck. The other animals on the seashore are waiting for high tide too, six long hours. But today is a special day, the boy and his family are going to build a raft. They found a big log and have cut it into three sections. The boy plays on the shore, finding treasures along the way including a pair of pink glasses with one eye covered in barnacles. They work hard on the raft as the water comes in closer and closer. When they stop for lunch, the boy sees birds eating too. The raft is finally ready but there is still time before high tide, so they eat cookies and wait. Finally the raft floats and there is time for jumping, swimming and enjoying the perfect summer day.
McClure proves here that she is as much a writer and poet as an artist. She writes with a depth that is lovely to see in a picture book, offering real insight into the natural world. She also writes with a childlike eye and attitude, drawing parallels between the human world and the natural one. There is an engaging mix of fonts in the text, some of the text large and capitalized in a way that conveys excitement and time passing. The passage of time is such a focus here as the tide slowly comes in. It is a book that celebrates slower times, lingering before enjoying the reward of your hard work.
As always McClure’s art is exceptional. Her cut paperwork is filled with details. The scene of the boy in the barnacle glasses as he explores the shoreline is filled with such tiny details that one can look for some time before you see the chipmunk peeking over the log or the five dollar bill. This is a book for spending some slow time of your own on.
Based on McClure’s own family, this picture book is a quiet look at nature and spending time outside. Appropriate for ages 6-8.
McClure proves here that she is as much a writer and poet as an artist. She writes with a depth that is lovely to see in a picture book, offering real insight into the natural world. She also writes with a childlike eye and attitude, drawing parallels between the human world and the natural one. There is an engaging mix of fonts in the text, some of the text large and capitalized in a way that conveys excitement and time passing. The passage of time is such a focus here as the tide slowly comes in. It is a book that celebrates slower times, lingering before enjoying the reward of your hard work.
As always McClure’s art is exceptional. Her cut paperwork is filled with details. The scene of the boy in the barnacle glasses as he explores the shoreline is filled with such tiny details that one can look for some time before you see the chipmunk peeking over the log or the five dollar bill. This is a book for spending some slow time of your own on.
Based on McClure’s own family, this picture book is a quiet look at nature and spending time outside. Appropriate for ages 6-8.
August 27, 2016
I picked up this book because the illustrations caught my eye, and I really wanted to just pour over the pictures. The illustrations support the text of the story, which tells of a child who builds a raft with the help of parents and grandmother. They start building the raft at low tide, and by high tide they ride it out and anchor it so that it will be there for years of fun. Within the story, which has a slow, lilting cadence to it, like the gentle waves lapping the shore, the reader learns a bit about animals that live near the shore, both in and out of water. Detailed illustrations help the reader see how barnacles live and feed, and how a sea gull eats shellfish, among other things. The illustrations were made by "cutting black paper with an Xacto knife". Most pages are black and white, with some blue or pink accents. The illustrations are detailed, with heavy lines and fine details. There are a few smaller pen and ink illustrations, and the endpapers should not be ignored! Like I said, I picked this book up for the illustrations, which did not disappoint. The young reader could spend hours looking at all the details, and finding something new with each reading. In the author's note, McClure tells of how her family actually built a raft much like the one in the story. Ocean lovers will feel the chill of the water and smell the salt in the air. Outstanding. Highly recommended to readers who love the ocean, love to build things, and like stories about family. K-5
February 9, 2017
Nikki McClure did an amazing job with both the story and illustrations in this book. I think that this book should have won the Caldecott because the images are unlike any I have ever seen in another children's book. They are simple and don't have a lot of color, however, they are extremely intriguing and I think that even at a young age the readers/listeners will appreciate the pictures and how they amplify this story. The story is also amazing, McClure did a wonderful job overall with this book. I would recommend this for young readers, such as 1st or 2nd graders, but I think children older and younger than that will also be able to appreciate and enjoy the story and illustrations that this book has to offer.
August 28, 2016
Classic Nikki McClure paper cuts that pull you in and beg to be explored. The longer you look at these illustrations, the more you will see, similar to the way you might explode the seashore.
My favorite page is the heron's leg underwater, surrounded by barnacles, crabs, fish, and other sea life, with the view of the heron's head through the water. What a wonderful perspective!
I admit, I'm partial to anything related to birds or the coast, so this book gets a high score partly for that. It's a bit wordy, but I think younger children could appreciate it if the content is discussed. Would make a great supplement to an ocean or seaside unit.
Don't know if it has the visual continuity to qualify as a true picture book as opposed to an illustrated book, so I hesitate to say it has Caldecott potential. Do the pictures tell the story? Not really, but they do extend and develop it. This is a truly distinguished book in its excellence of artistic media and technique. Very, very nice!
My favorite page is the heron's leg underwater, surrounded by barnacles, crabs, fish, and other sea life, with the view of the heron's head through the water. What a wonderful perspective!
I admit, I'm partial to anything related to birds or the coast, so this book gets a high score partly for that. It's a bit wordy, but I think younger children could appreciate it if the content is discussed. Would make a great supplement to an ocean or seaside unit.
Don't know if it has the visual continuity to qualify as a true picture book as opposed to an illustrated book, so I hesitate to say it has Caldecott potential. Do the pictures tell the story? Not really, but they do extend and develop it. This is a truly distinguished book in its excellence of artistic media and technique. Very, very nice!
June 28, 2016
Seeing a new title fromNikki McClure enticed me to pick up this book last week when I was working in the children's room. Now that I'm no longer working primarily with children, I am so happy when the work day takes me into that part of the building. Not only do I get to say hi to some of the children and their grown-ups that I've gotten to know, I get a glimpse of the books! This book has a lot of informational text told in an informal way so I won't categorize it as a picture book. The note in the back of the book tells us that the illustration are made by cutting black paper with an X-Acto knife. They are marvelous. I can't wait to read this book with my granddaughters someday. This would be an especially great book to read with children who live near Olympia, Washington where the story is set.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews