Beach time! Even if your state is land-locked like mine is, you probably have beaches at lakes & rivers. (And here's a fun fact--South Dakota has more miles of shoreline than Florida!)
Magnolia is at it again (#MagnoliaSaysDont) in Elise Parsley's second book, If You Ever Want to Bring a Piano to the Beach, DON'T!. I was happy to attend the book launch, where Elise read the book (wearing water wings), gave a brief art lesson, and offered snacks and coloring pages.
The text and pictures work together perfectly to create a hilarious story about obedience, persistence, and creativity. Naturally, when Magnolia's mother suggests a trip to the beach, Magnolia chooses to take along a non-traditional beach "toy," the piano. Naturally, because it's Magnolia, things go awry. But she ends up content and brings home a more traditional treasure from the beach itself. What cracked me up: Magnolia's expressions throughout, the silly situations, and how Mom remained completely unbothered by the whole thing! The cover is a good hint at the mayhem within!
Another great beach book aimed at very young children (my three-year-old granddaughter giggled all the way through) has only 1 word repeated several times. It's the title word in this book by Shutta Crum, illustrated by Patrice Barton.
Uh-Oh! follows the adventures of a boy and girl playing at the beach. Their moms are in the background, unbothered by the day's events where uh-ohs happen at every turn, and then turn out just right.
If your family is ready for hikes, smores, and campfires, this book/CD combo is for you! I was pleased to win Can You Canoe? from Sterling Publishing via Dylan Teut's blog.
The book features the lyrics to the twelve songs contained on the accompanying CD by the Okee Dokee Brothers. Each song, illustrated by Brandon Reese, is in keeping with the music's acoustic Americana style. Within minutes, everyone will be singing along, making the travel miles more fun! Here's a taste of the title song:
Happy summer planning, reading, and singing!
The family is headed to the beach in a couple of weeks, so I'm happy to see your reviews of these books. I've heard the title of the first one, but wasn't sure about it. It does look fun, Jane. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI think the kids in your life would get a big bang out of _If You Ever..._. Have a great time, Linda B, and thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI finally subscribed to your blog! Already have the Piano to the Beach book but always looking for good kids books! Thanks Jane.
ReplyDeleteLet us know how the kids like the Piano to the Beach book. Thanks for stopping by, norsklady!
DeleteThat blows my mind that SD has more shoreline than Florida! And we don't have alligators (except at the Reptile Garden) or sharks! Thanks for the beach-read suggestions, too. Magnolia is awesome! And the other two look like a lot of fun. Confession: I've never been in a canoe.
ReplyDeleteHi, Deb, if you listened to the song, you know that canoeing requires nothing by a canoe and an oar--and a friend. You might like to try it while enjoying some of SD's vast shoreline. :) Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteSurely these water gliding, sandy stories will bring the sunshine on in your world, Jane. Lovely post about must-read titles. Magnolia
ReplyDeletedefines spunk.
(I note the brag about S.D vs. FL shoreline & raise my eyebrow! )
It must have worked, jan, because we've had sunny weather since this post. The SD tourism folks are probably counting the miles on both sides of all of our rivers + our many lakes to equal more than FL. Thanks for your comments. :)
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