This book provides a rhyming recipe for a fun beach day; "Sand and sea, sun and shade, buckets and balls and lemonade, fish in the water, birds on the wing...You really don't need another thing. EXCEPT..." and the recipe continues. The fonts are playful and change size, italics, and color to add emphasis to the book. The pictures are filled to the gills with girls and boys of all sizes, shapes, colors, and genders sporting bright swimsuits, sun hats, umbrellas, and beach toys.
The concept of numbers as big as million or trillion may be new to your child, so referencing it to a grain of sand will help your child comprehend the large numbers; "Five million other grains, ten million more, spread them all out on a sandy shore..." If your child has been to the beach, this book will certainly spark some memories they will want to share. If they have not yet been to the beach, the talk of sun, beach balls, and building sand castles is sure to sound like fun and inspire questions - do the waves really smell fishy? Is the ocean really sparkly blue? Are there really pelicans at the beach?!
I first read this book to my niece, Emily, the night before we were going to go to the beach. She had been before, so each page sparked a new memory she wanted to share. She pointed out that none of the kids were wearing their life jackets when they were in the water, and I was very proud of her for noticing, as we always require her to wear hers if she wants to go swimming. Emily also thought the giant sand castle the kids built was "so cool", so I agreed to help her make one the next day.
--Audra