This is a beautiful book and would make a perfect book for boys to read with their fathers and especially meaningful to anyone who has relatives who have worked in the mines. Volos railway station is close to the harbour and served by local trains from Larissa (38 miles away), which is on the main Athens-Thessaloniki line. From Thessaloniki there are trains to Belgrade, Sofia and beyond (the Belgrade route is only open this year until 16 September, see seat61.com). EasyJet flies to Volos (Nea Anchialos airport, 40km away) twice a week. The coal mines of Cape Breton in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia have closed, but this book recalls a time when generations of men toiled in the mines under the sea. There are plenty of islands to explore for visitors to Rovinj. Photograph: William Manning/Getty Images

For such a dark concept it’s not a dark book. When my husband and I read this book to our six-year-old and three-year-old they seemed more intrigued by the fact that a kid could walk by himself to the store (this is the 50s’ after all) than the fact that someday that boy will work all day in the claustrophobic dark below the sea. Indeed I was intrigued to find that the chilling final lines of the picture book sink far deeper into the psyches of the adults reading this book than the kids. But I like that Joanne Schwartz does not judge the workers or the town. The inevitability of becoming a miner isn’t delivered by the young protagonist with anything more than simple honesty. Just listen to those final lines: “I’m a miner’s son. In my town, that’s the way it goes.” The dread I felt when he alluded to his future was purely personal, helped in no small part by Schwartz & Smith’s clever pairing of sunlight and gloom throughout the book. You might not want to work down there, but when your future is set in stone it’s hard to think outside the box. There’s a quote that Schwartz includes in her Author’s Note from Robert McIntosh’s Boys in the Pits: Child Labour in the Coal Mines that summarizes this perfectly. “The boy may have seen for years his father and older brothers leave for the pit. For most boys raised within these communities, the day arrived when they too surrendered their childhood to it.” One of the most glorious things about the UK being an island is that there’s certainly no shortage of coastline. No siree. Fully exploring this nation’s towering cliffs, brilliant beaches, sweeping bays and dramatic headlands would fill several lifetimes. And along those coastlines are an equally vast number of marvellous villages and towns – plenty of which are enjoying a bit of a renaissance right now. The boy and his friend will go down the pit, just like their fathers and grandfathers before them, because ‘that’s the way it goes.’ And once the dazzling summer light has faded, we’re left to wonder what became of our narrator and all the other boys like him. Children don’t need to know this book is set in the 1950’s or understand coalmining to enjoy it – it’s full of life and disarmingly accessible. But there are many layers here, together with some hidden depths, making this a richly satisfying starting point for creative exploration. Each day when the boy wakes he can hear seagulls, a barking dog, a car door, flowers rustling in the wind. The first thing he sees is the sea and he reflects on the knowledge that his father is already at work deep under the ocean working in the coal mine.

Small in the City

In this Soundworlds production, we follow Davey as he describes his daily routine: from waking up with the sea sparkling outside his window, to playing with his friends, buying groceries for his mother, and visiting his grandfather’s grave. Throughout the day, his thoughts keep returning to his father, working in the coal mines deep beneath the town.

Trains run to Cádiz from London via Paris, Perpignan (sleeper) and Madrid. See loco2.com for details. For a cheaper dinner, Pizzeria Il Fantasma up the pedestrianised street does great pizzas and antipasti at outdoor tables. Of Poetto’s many “beach clubs”, one of the best is La Caravella, which does great things with tuna, clams and bottarga (three-course lunch €25), as well as pizzas in the evening (from €5.50).Created by musicians, writers, theatre-makers and sound artists, sonic theatre pieces are more than radio plays. They’re immersive sound worlds, intoxicating blends of music and storytelling, sound design, documentary and fiction. Observant readers will spot more than they’re being told. There’s a problem in the tunnel: will Father come home? The tension is subtle and swiftly relieved, but the shadows cast by this book are real. Our narrator and his friend will go down the pit, just like their fathers and grandfathers before them, because that’s the way it goes... and once the dazzling summer light has faded we’re left to wonder what becomes of them. With curriculum connections to communities and the history of mining, this beautifully understated and haunting story brings a piece of Canadian history to life. The ever-present ocean and inevitable pattern of life in a Cape Breton mining town will enthrall children and move adult readers. This lovely, light-filled picturebook has hidden depths and is well worth reading and exploring with your class. What do children remember about their summer? Share as a class, then choose six summer ‘memory moments’ and draw them as vignettes inspired by Sydney Smith. Describe them verbally and write about them.