“When I was a boy my three uncles lived in a big wooden house by the sea” begins the latest book by Teddy Jam, author of Jacob’s Best Sisters. This long first-person narrative in picture book form is primarily about the summer an eight-year-old boy first joins his uncles on their fishing boat. The uncles are big, brawny fishermen, their meaty arms reddened by sun, the smiles on their great slab faces happy and confident. Each uncle has his own quiet skills; they tease the youngster without forgetting that he’s in their care.

The illustrations by Ange (pronounced ONG-ay) Zhang, international theatre-designer and Mr. Christie award-winner for Thor, absolutely shine. The waves on the cover seem to bob, and the sun glancing off water and fish evoke vivid memories.

The summer is wonderful. The fishing is wonderful. Especially wonderful is the camaraderie among the adult uncles, who have an easy warm relationship that’s rarely seen in picture books. Their sister, the narrator’s protective mother, manages to patrol her son without keeping him off the boat (which is actually what she would prefer to do). There are little victories, good moments, love and worry, and throughout, utterly enjoyable pictures.

It’s the ending that’s unhappy, dropping like a cold rock on these golden feelings. But the last page is what makes The Fishing Summer so gently different from a love-it-but-forget-it nostalgia piece. “After hundreds of years of everyone’s grandfather and grandfather’s grandfather going out to sea, no one in the village fishes any more. The fish are gone.” There’s no preparation before, no explanation after. The story gave us something – something we really liked – and took it away. The effect is subtle, and so uncontrived that it lingers on. Intended for kids aged four to eight, the book will draw in older children, too, and gratify adults reading it aloud. But it reverberates long afterwards with sombre questions… about lost fish, lost men.