When Holland is arrested for the thirty-seventh time for stealing beautiful things, he must make a very difficult decision. A police officer says that he must either go to jail or become a soldier. He chooses to join the army and is sent south, where he finds himself surrounded by beautiful things: palm trees, parrots, flowers and big blue waves...and fish
Holland starts painting pictures of the fish, which he sells at the market on the weekend. Soon, he has money to send home to his parents. They are worried that he's gone back to his stealing ways, so his father writes to ask if he earned the money honestly. Holland writes back to reassure him that he has decided to paint instead of steal because "not everything that's pretty can be stuffed in your pockets "
Based on a true story about JonArno Lawson's uncle, and accompanied by Natalie Nelson's collage illustrations, this quirky picture book is about making choices - and art.
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Groundwood Books
Published: 04/11/2017
ISBN: 9781554989294
Pages: 32
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.60h x 10.00w x 0.30d
Review Citations: School Library Journal 01/01/2017 pg. 74
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2017
Publishers Weekly 02/20/2017
Booklist 04/01/2017 pg. 84
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2017 pg. 80