Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Beach Favorites


While in the bookstore today, I happened upon a book I could not resist. As soon as I saw the cover, it called my daughter's name. She loves shells and as I have mentioned in a previous post, she also loves small books. Shell Crazy (A Crazy Little Series) by Tracy Gallup is a sweet short story about a sister and brother who love to hunt for shells on the beach. What drew me to the book was less about the words and more about the pictures. Each page is a photograph incorporating Tracy's handmade figures with a variety of shells. Our personal favorite is a reproduction of The Birth of Venus. Tracy has also published Stone Crazy as the first in this series and we look forward to more! Here are just a couple of our must-read summer beach books that precede our trips to the seacoast in New Hampshire.


Beach by Elisha Cooper. This beautiful book highlights all of the things you see in a visit to the ocean from the sunburns to the sandcastles dripped from wet sand. It begins with the arrival to the beach and shows the dwindling crowd as the day ends. The pictures show the long stretch of the beach and the peaches, pinks, blues and whites perfectly illustrate the sand and water of the day. The book is huge and with all if it's people-watching delights it is a book for everyone in the family to enjoy.


Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies
We love to watch the bats at dusk around our house and my kids love this book as a nighttime read aloud. The artwork is fabulous and the rhyming text is fun to read. There are some very funny details in the pictures. Take the time to explore.

Flotsam by Davis Weisner
A wordless picture book that needs little explanation since it won the Caldecott for 2006. If you have not seen this yet you need to get your hands on it. Imaginative, brilliant, and stunning.

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