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The Sea Egg
Scholastic TK 2742, cover art by Gerry Contreras.
103 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1967
About the author
Lucy M. Boston
32 books113 followersLucy M. Boston (1892–1990), born Lucy Maria Wood, was an English novelist who wrote for children and adults, publishing her work entirely after the age of 60. She is best known for her "Green Knowe" series: six low fantasy children's novels published by Faber between 1954 and 1976. The setting is Green Knowe, an old country manor house based on Boston's Cambridgeshire home at Hemingford Grey. For the fourth book in the series, A Stranger at Green Knowe (1961), she won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.[1]
During her long life, she distinguished herself as a writer, mainly of children’s books, and as the creator of a magical garden. She was also an accomplished artist who had studied drawing and painting in Vienna, and a needlewoman who produced a series of patchworks.
During her long life, she distinguished herself as a writer, mainly of children’s books, and as the creator of a magical garden. She was also an accomplished artist who had studied drawing and painting in Vienna, and a needlewoman who produced a series of patchworks.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 12, 2014
The Sea Egg by L. M. Boston (1967) is a low fantasy novella about two young boys (brothers) vacationing on the Cornish coast who discover to their delight and wonder a sea egg from which hatches a triton (or a merman). Their adventures are simple, and though extraordinary they ring true to life, as do the characters of the boys. If you are acquainted with Boston’s more celebrated Children of Green Knowe series you will know that she is prodigiously gifted with a poetical prose style which is evocative and transporting, for example:
“It was not an ogre’s soul in that egg,” said Toby in a burst of passionate despair. “It was mine.”
Or
“At that moment Joe gave a yell and jerked up his knee. Round the ankle was a hand that would not let go, and out from under the seaweed came the irresistible, ever-changing face, this time mock solemn. He rolled his eyes up to indicate the top of the cliffs, put a finger on his lips, and with a light kiss on Toby’s calf such as a pup might give, or the sea itself, he withdrew. The boys felt among the seaweed curtain with their feet for the last touch of him, but he had vanished.”
Or
“Then all was quiet, except for that murmurous half telling, half withholding of tremendous secrets that the sea would keep up all night. Each little wave seemed to say, “I’ll tell you-” and then pull back with a smothered “Oh!” to be followed by another wave saying, “Then I will say-” but whatever it was remained unsaid and unsayable.”
Cornwall is a favourite literary locale and fantasy destination of mine - and I enjoyed this brief but rewarding fantasy very much indeed.
“It was not an ogre’s soul in that egg,” said Toby in a burst of passionate despair. “It was mine.”
Or
“At that moment Joe gave a yell and jerked up his knee. Round the ankle was a hand that would not let go, and out from under the seaweed came the irresistible, ever-changing face, this time mock solemn. He rolled his eyes up to indicate the top of the cliffs, put a finger on his lips, and with a light kiss on Toby’s calf such as a pup might give, or the sea itself, he withdrew. The boys felt among the seaweed curtain with their feet for the last touch of him, but he had vanished.”
Or
“Then all was quiet, except for that murmurous half telling, half withholding of tremendous secrets that the sea would keep up all night. Each little wave seemed to say, “I’ll tell you-” and then pull back with a smothered “Oh!” to be followed by another wave saying, “Then I will say-” but whatever it was remained unsaid and unsayable.”
Cornwall is a favourite literary locale and fantasy destination of mine - and I enjoyed this brief but rewarding fantasy very much indeed.
April 25, 2019
Two young brothers, on holiday at the seashore, experience the wonder of both the natural and supernatural worlds when a beautiful "sea egg" that they buy hatches into a mischievous triton. Although not quite as persuasive in its narration as the classic
Green Knowe
books, or her astonishing
The Guardians of the House
, the author manages to tell an engaging story in this short novel, with two realistic and likable protagonists.
Boston displays the occasional flash of brilliance in her evocative descriptions of the sea and its creatures, and the enchantment they weave over Toby and Joe. While this is clearly a book intended for young readers, the adult who happens upon it might well wonder whether is contains a deeper metaphor about the nature of childhood. Just as the brief holiday provides a moment of enchanted calm before the storm, for both boys and triton, so too does childhood serve as an all-too-brief preface to the wilder waters of maturity. But all idylls must end...
Boston displays the occasional flash of brilliance in her evocative descriptions of the sea and its creatures, and the enchantment they weave over Toby and Joe. While this is clearly a book intended for young readers, the adult who happens upon it might well wonder whether is contains a deeper metaphor about the nature of childhood. Just as the brief holiday provides a moment of enchanted calm before the storm, for both boys and triton, so too does childhood serve as an all-too-brief preface to the wilder waters of maturity. But all idylls must end...
June 10, 2016
The descriptions of the sea and coastline in this story are truly incredible and evoke the beauty many of us appreciate about our visits to the ocean, wherever that may be. L.M. Boston writes with a kind of poetry that is perfectly complimented by the accompanying illustrations. I definitely would recommend this fantastic tale to anyone wanting a quick read to pull them right into ocean memories and dreams of further adventures there.
March 21, 2015
An excellent story. Very well-written, as is usual for L.M. Boston.
March 15, 2018
An incredibly beautiful story, and very magical. Two boys on holiday on the Cornish coast discover a sea egg in a fisherman's catch. They buy it from the fisherman, return it to a rock pool they know of, and what unfolds is a magical holiday, with a new playmate.
Boston's prose is lyrical, compounding image upon image to a climax that leaves one breathless and wanting more. One of the most beautiful stories I've ever read.
Boston's prose is lyrical, compounding image upon image to a climax that leaves one breathless and wanting more. One of the most beautiful stories I've ever read.
June 16, 2025
“The tide, as every young Briton should know in his bones, is fifty minutes later every day.”
Starting my Cornwall-themed reading list with a children’s book. I was wondering whether I’d read it as a child, but it’s not at all familiar. It is quite wonderful though - the imagination of the children, and their freedom to roam in an age very different to ours - and who could not love a children’s book that has on its first page the fabulous lyrical sentence “It was a magical morning with a silence like all the secrets in the world and a light like happiness.” A simple, nostalgic story - glorious stuff.
Starting my Cornwall-themed reading list with a children’s book. I was wondering whether I’d read it as a child, but it’s not at all familiar. It is quite wonderful though - the imagination of the children, and their freedom to roam in an age very different to ours - and who could not love a children’s book that has on its first page the fabulous lyrical sentence “It was a magical morning with a silence like all the secrets in the world and a light like happiness.” A simple, nostalgic story - glorious stuff.
February 11, 2018
Maybe I would have enjoyed this more had I listened to an audiobook (as I have for all of the Green Knowe books).
September 1, 2018
This young adult novel takes us into a world of the ocean, sort of a fantasy world, but L.M. Boston makes great effort to also keep it in the "real world". Just as with all her books about the Green Knowe house, these tales no doubt reflect the amazing house from her childhood with her eccentric father and mother. This book is also illustrated by her son, Peter Boston. It will charm you, but also leave you wishing that she had given us more of the horn-blowing creature who keeps the two young male protagonists wanting to return to the sea.
July 26, 2022
I hadn't ever heard of The Sea Egg until a few days ago; I knew of Lucy M. Boston, of course, and although I rather loved the strange and gauzy light of her books (and the sad, wonderful heart of A Stranger At Green Knowe in particular), I have never had a lot of knowledge of her beyond that. This can happen. Some authors can become defined by one series and the twilight books that lie beyond that can slide past your notice. This is where second-hand bookshops come in, second-hand bookshops and time and a chance to browse and letting your eye slide past the things you know and dwell on the things that you do not. You'll never know what stops you or why it catches your eye, but something will and that's when the fun begins.
The Sea Egg then, a slender and graceful story, first published in 1967, and almost palpable with an endless Summery heat. There is a a feel of Minnow On The Say but also Susan Cooper, I think, that edge of finding the fantastical and the otherworldly in the intimate, known world. Maybe that's not right, maybe it's more that Susan Cooper quality of knowing that suddenly the world about you isn't the world that you knew, that there's something else here to discover, something that was there all along.
Plot wise, it's straightforward and deceptively so. Two boys discover something unusual at a beach. That unusual turns out to be Unusual, in that delicious way that Boston can do so well. And her writing, my god, there's some beauty here. I read many of the sentences over and over again, because stuff like "It was a magical morning with a silence like all the secrets in the world, and a light like happiness" will always do that for me. The grace of it!
There's themes here of growth, of 'that last summer before everything changed', the onset of adulthood, the onset of loss, and it's all so subtle, so softly done. I am made a bit breathless by it, and I think I'm gushing so you must forgive me for that but it is so. so. good. This is classy, big work by a writer who can move mountains and I am so glad I found it.
The Sea Egg then, a slender and graceful story, first published in 1967, and almost palpable with an endless Summery heat. There is a a feel of Minnow On The Say but also Susan Cooper, I think, that edge of finding the fantastical and the otherworldly in the intimate, known world. Maybe that's not right, maybe it's more that Susan Cooper quality of knowing that suddenly the world about you isn't the world that you knew, that there's something else here to discover, something that was there all along.
Plot wise, it's straightforward and deceptively so. Two boys discover something unusual at a beach. That unusual turns out to be Unusual, in that delicious way that Boston can do so well. And her writing, my god, there's some beauty here. I read many of the sentences over and over again, because stuff like "It was a magical morning with a silence like all the secrets in the world, and a light like happiness" will always do that for me. The grace of it!
There's themes here of growth, of 'that last summer before everything changed', the onset of adulthood, the onset of loss, and it's all so subtle, so softly done. I am made a bit breathless by it, and I think I'm gushing so you must forgive me for that but it is so. so. good. This is classy, big work by a writer who can move mountains and I am so glad I found it.
July 28, 2024
A really interesting idea that could have better as a short story, but here it is in a novella form. I found it quite unusual and enjoyed the writing which is very descriptive. Two boys on holiday buy an unusual rock and deposit it in a rock pool, where it seems it hatches into a Triton, a boy with a human torso and tail of a fish. The boys have only a few encounters with the Triton, but they are enchanted by him and take every opportunity to go back to the rock pool which is in a cave, cut off by the tides. The boys' parents are, of course, completely oblivious to the boys' escapades, only wondering why they are losing their clothes and coming home drenched. What really lifted the story for me were the gorgeous illustrations. They helped give it a quite exotic atmosphere. What makes this a three star read was the boys' encounter with seals, which I found clumsy and out of place, and also the abrupt ending, which was so sudden I actually wondered whether my copy of the book was missing the last page.
October 28, 2021
For some reason, I found a recommendation for the Green Knowe series somewhere, and so I read those. Once I had finished, I wondered what else Boston had written, and here was another of her books. I will say that I put this down more than once, but I did finish it. It's fun to read about kids having adventures, but it's a little bit terrifying when you're a mom reading about kids swimming in the ocean unattended at night.
July 13, 2017
Boston's description of the sea isn't quite as enchanting as her description of the rivers and gardens around Green Knowe. Nevertheless, she strongly develops the characters of Toby and Joe, keeping them distinct.
January 15, 2022
An innocent little adventure of how two boys meet a mer-boy. Well written, the descriptions are amazing, and the tale itself is a reminder of the wildness of wild things.
November 5, 2010
REad this with Andrea. It was sweet. Has good vocabulary. No chapters, but straight through and short.
August 13, 2014
Found this at a rummage sale and liked the cover. The writing was definitely better than expected. Strange little story…we liked it.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews