Hardback.
58 pages.
Text in both English and Japanese.
Bueno! Books 2014. ISBN978-4-907354-11-4
"The ocean takes something bad that we humans did, and turns it into something beautiful."
Illustrated by Yusuke Hanai, Beach Glass is a modern day fable centred on respect for the beach, the restoring powers of mother nature and the kindness of strangers.
George Cockle's humbling tale proves an original and thought provoking way to think about our relationship to mother nature, especially as ocean lovers. Highly recommended for children of all ages, especially those with kids of their own!
Bueno! Books are a 1% for the Planet member, and have pledged to give one percent of all their sales to grassroots environmental organisations.
ABOUT GEORGE COCKLE & YUSUKE HANAI
Born in Kamakura, just outside of Tokyo, to a Japanese mother and American father, George Cockle could be the very personification of Japanese amalgamations of American culture. Obsessed with the Beatles, Bob Marley and, you guessed it, Surf Culture but having grown up in Japan, Cockle has a very nuanced but open minded cultural outlook. In his own words, "I hope to become a bridge between Japan and the world". Aside from having written several books he also regularly appears on Japanese radio, both his own show and others, sharing his thoughts on both western and eastern music.
The Golden Rays first came across the illustrations of Yusuke Hanai in a particular Laguna Beach surf shop. Aside from several collaborative tees with Vans, what really blew our minds was his book "Ordinary People". Filled with drawings of forlorn looking surfers, alcoholics, dog walkers and, as the title suggests, just ordinary people. Yusuke first started to draw at 17, after discovering the work of Surfer artist Rick Griffin on the cover of the Grateful Dead's "Aoxomoxoa". Becoming obsessed with surf art and the 60s counter culture he immediately hot footed it to San Francisco. However in contrast to the overwhelmingly busy nature of sixties psychedelic art, Yusuke Hanai seems to have plucked Rick Griffin's Murphy character from the pages of a 1962 issue of Surfer and placed him in a minimal 21st century context with humour and the kind of attention to detail more commonly associated with Japanese art and crafts movements.
