When I was about 10 my brother gave me a book by Holling C. Holling called Pagoo. Pagoo is an illustrated children’s book about life in a tide pool that focuses on hermit crabs, in particular a hermit crab named Pagoo. As I recall, Pagoo was a name derived from the scientific name for a hermit crab which I don’t recall. It is one of my all-time favorite books and I still have it. Sunday morning, Susan and I walked on the beach and I mused that I’d never seen a hermit crab on the beach. Just as Susan commented she thought they were mostly on the channel side, she stooped to pick up a moon shell from the sand. When she turned it over, Pagoo emerged! It’s the first hermit crab I’ve seen on the beach here. If you look closely, you can see Pagoo’s beady black eyes looking at the camera as Susan holds him in her fingers. After I took this photograph, Susan returned him to the surf. After our encounter with the hermit crab, I told Susan about Pagoo the book. Not only had read it as a child, too, her personal copy was signed by the author!
