Skip to main content

Swashby and the Sea

Image
By
Swashby and the Sea
By Beth Ferry
Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. Picture book.

Captain Swashby likes to be in solitude - which is why he retires to a seaside house to enjoy peace and quiet with his old friend the ocean. This is all completely interrupted when a gregarious girl and her granny move in next door -- prompting Swashby to batten down the hatches and leave decidedly un-neighborly messages of "NO TRESPASSING" and "PLEASE GO AWAY" in the sand. Which the sea fiddles with, transforming it into "SING" and "PLAY" by washing away extra letters. Swashby starts to open up a little bit, but nothing quite brings him out of his shell until the ocean carries the child away from the shore, and Swashby dives in to save her.

We love Martinez-Neal's illustrations from the 2019 Caldecott Honor Alma and How She Got Her Name and the 2020 Sibert Medal Fry Bread, and she is back again with a color palette of muted blues, beige, and turquoise that evoke the setting and reflect the character's changing emotions. Her Swashby is perfectly curmudgeonly and the unnamed girl and her granny are suitably jubilant with buoyant afros and funky, over-sized sunglasses. Get your best pirate voice ready because this beachy, friendship story demands to be read aloud - over and over.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Faker

By
Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Umami

By
  Umami By Jacob Grant New York: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2024. Picture Book. Umami is a little penguin who is sick of eating the same thing everyday, cold fish --ugh! She becomes determined to find new foods and flavors, so Umami begins a journey across the sea in search of something different to eat. She reaches a place with a plethora of delicious options, and tries bitter, sweet, sour, and foods with umami (just like her name!) among others. Umami decides to bring all these delicious new flavors back for the other penguins to try in a feast. But, will the other penguins enjoy this new experience?  Filled with charm and humor, Umami is a diverse romp through a universal experience --am I willing to try something new? What will it be like? The idea of trying new foods and flavors make it especially relatable, and the appealing illustrations will have many readers ready to hop out on a culinary adventure. A humorous and sweet ending, caps off this delig...
Post a Comment
Read more

Five Faves: Easy Readers of 2024

By
Hello world! I know you have been anticipating the release of this list all year... my favorite easy readers! Whether they're funny or sweet, these titles are all great for kids taking their first steps for reading. So without further ado...here are my five favorite easy readers of 2024. Lone Wolf Goes to School Written by Kiah Thomas Illustrated by K-Fai Steele New York: Neal Porter Books/Holiday House, 2024. Easy Reader.  Lone wolf would spend all of his time alone if he could. Unfortunately, he has to go to school with the "snotty" kids, and even when he leaves school there's people at the beach, on the mountains, and at the movie theater. What's a wolf to do? Invite them all to a party at his house and then leave so that all the places he wants to be are empty, of course! If you're looking for a moralistic read-aloud that will teach the virtues of making friends so that you aren't lonely, you should definitely look elsewhere. However, if you're loo...
Post a Comment
Read more