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Hamlet and the Magnificent Sandcastle
Hamlet, a pig with a vision, determines to build the biggest sandcastle in the world along with his reluctant partner, Quince, who worries that things will go terribly wrong.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
28 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
20 people want to read
About the author
Brian Lies
46 books157 followersI was born in 1963 in Princeton, New Jersey, which back then was a quiet college town, surrounded by old farmland slowly giving way to housing developments. I spent a lot of time building dams and forts in the woods across the street with my best friend, inventing things, and writing and drawing with my older sister. At various times during my childhood, we had newts, gerbils and rabbits as pets. When I was in fifth grade, an author and illustrator visited my school, and I was amazed that one could have a job writing and drawing. I wished it could be my job! But I didn’t think I was good enough at either writing or drawing to even try.
I had always liked to draw, though, and kept doing it just for fun. During high school, I also painted with oil paints and made stained glass windows. I actually sold some, too—my first taste of self-employment. I went to Brown University after high school, where I studied Psychology and British and American Literature. I began to think about what I really wanted to do for a career, and what I really wanted was something that involved art. So after graduation from college in 1985, I moved to Boston to study drawing and painting at the Boston Museum School (also known as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
At the Museum School, I started getting paintings in exhibitions and won a few prizes, and then was able to get political illustrations published in the Christian Science Monitor and the Boston Globe.
Suddenly I had a career as an editorial and political illustrator, working with a lot of magazines and newspapers. In 1989, I illustrated my first book, Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Missing Eye, with Houghton Mifflin Company in Boston.
Since then, I've illustrated some twenty books, including my newest one, Bats at the Library, which I also wrote. My other three written-and-illustrated books to date are the New York Times bestseller, Bats at the Beach, Hamlet and the Enormous Chinese Dragon Kite, and Hamlet and the Magnificent Sandcastle.
I also get lots of work published in Cricket, Spider, Ladybug and Babybug magazines, and I enjoy visiting schools to work with students on writing and illustrating stories.
I live in a seaside town in Massachusetts with my wife, my daughter, two cats and a hamster. My hobbies are bicycling, woodworking, and tending a big vegetable garden behind the house. I’m very interested in old-fashioned food preparation, too, and sometimes make my own cheese, kimchi and other things (including a drink called switchel, which I kind of liked but which everybody else in my family thought was nasty).
I also read a lot, which I think is important—it keeps my imagination going, and leaves me feeling much more relaxed than television does!
I had always liked to draw, though, and kept doing it just for fun. During high school, I also painted with oil paints and made stained glass windows. I actually sold some, too—my first taste of self-employment. I went to Brown University after high school, where I studied Psychology and British and American Literature. I began to think about what I really wanted to do for a career, and what I really wanted was something that involved art. So after graduation from college in 1985, I moved to Boston to study drawing and painting at the Boston Museum School (also known as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
At the Museum School, I started getting paintings in exhibitions and won a few prizes, and then was able to get political illustrations published in the Christian Science Monitor and the Boston Globe.
Suddenly I had a career as an editorial and political illustrator, working with a lot of magazines and newspapers. In 1989, I illustrated my first book, Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Missing Eye, with Houghton Mifflin Company in Boston.
Since then, I've illustrated some twenty books, including my newest one, Bats at the Library, which I also wrote. My other three written-and-illustrated books to date are the New York Times bestseller, Bats at the Beach, Hamlet and the Enormous Chinese Dragon Kite, and Hamlet and the Magnificent Sandcastle.
I also get lots of work published in Cricket, Spider, Ladybug and Babybug magazines, and I enjoy visiting schools to work with students on writing and illustrating stories.
I live in a seaside town in Massachusetts with my wife, my daughter, two cats and a hamster. My hobbies are bicycling, woodworking, and tending a big vegetable garden behind the house. I’m very interested in old-fashioned food preparation, too, and sometimes make my own cheese, kimchi and other things (including a drink called switchel, which I kind of liked but which everybody else in my family thought was nasty).
I also read a lot, which I think is important—it keeps my imagination going, and leaves me feeling much more relaxed than television does!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 28, 2017
The story is a charming and fanciful romp with two adorable characters.
August 28, 2018
I loved the characters but the way the story was handled is much too terrifying for little kids in my opinion.
March 3, 2019
3.5*
February 9, 2015
Because I very much enjoyed the Bat books by this author/illustrator, I sought other offerings and found this book on the library shelf. It is a cute tale of Hamlet the pig and his friend Quince the porcupine who travel to the beach for a day of fun.
Polar opposites, Hamlet is a free spirit and worries little, while Quince is an obsessive wreck unable to enjoy even the smallest things of the day.
While Hamlet builds a major castle, complete with a seaweed unicorn tapestry, mistakenly, Quince falls asleep. When Quince awakes, he sees the rising tide heading toward Hamlet and his castle, despite the fact that he cannot swim, he finds a way to reach his friend.
Together, as the waves overtake the castle, they discover a way to arrive safely to shore.
Polar opposites, Hamlet is a free spirit and worries little, while Quince is an obsessive wreck unable to enjoy even the smallest things of the day.
While Hamlet builds a major castle, complete with a seaweed unicorn tapestry, mistakenly, Quince falls asleep. When Quince awakes, he sees the rising tide heading toward Hamlet and his castle, despite the fact that he cannot swim, he finds a way to reach his friend.
Together, as the waves overtake the castle, they discover a way to arrive safely to shore.
February 1, 2016
Our second story feature Hamlet the pig (first one was with the Chinese dragon kite). This time Halmet and his worried friend Quince go to the beach so Hamlet can make a sandcastle. And what a sandcastle it is, defying all laws of physics and the time it takes to build something. But it's fun to see. Unfortunately the tides comes in (also in defiance of how a tide normally comes in) and Halmet and Quince must be creative to save themselves from drowning.
Very interesting and engaging illustrations - especially of what Halmet can do with wet sand and seaweed.
Very interesting and engaging illustrations - especially of what Halmet can do with wet sand and seaweed.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews