To the Beach by Thomas Docherty

PreK-2. A simple travel story told in a beautiful illustrated sequence of pictures. This is a book that can almost be told through its pictures as there are very few words and most of them are nouns naming the object depicted on the page. A small boy lists everything he will need for a trip to and from the beach. This book would work well with very young children as it is predominately visually interesting and short on words, meaning it can be shared many times in one sitting.

This book would work well in storytime, possibly as a flannel story. I highly recommend this book that allows readers to make a great journey by simply turning a page!

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee

PreK-2. James and Eamon ("AY-mun") spend a week at Nature Camp at Eamon's grandparents' (Bill and Pam) house on the beach. Bill attempts to engage the boys in nature-based activities (i.e. hiking, a visit to the penguin exhibit at the Natural History Museum, map skills ect...), but the boys spend most of their time eating (Pam is a fabulous cook), watching TV, and enjoying the beach. Their last day at camp becomes their most memorable as they use rocks, sticks, and shells to recreate Antarctica. This is a humorous book with beautiful illustrations. It really taps into the way kids think and play, and their unique brand of humor. This title is great for one-on-one book sharing or for silent reading.

All You Need for a Beach by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Barbara Lavallee

This story reads like a recipe for creating a beach. The text lists all the necessary ingredients in a rhyming tone which supports phonological awareness, one of the six pre-reading skills in the Every Child Ready to Read initiative. This book is also an excellent resource for print awareness as it features text of varying sizes and colors. Vocabulary is another key element of this picture book as its premise is centered on naming things.

This book would work very well in storytime!

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Schertle, A. (2004). All you need for a beach. Orlando, FL: Silver Whistle/Harcourt.