From School Library Journal
PreSchool-In the same playful, rhyming style as in this pair's All You Need for a Snowman (Harcourt, 2002), this story unfolds. "One grain of sand/like the smallest seed,/-that's all you need/for a beach!/Except for/-Trillions of grains of sand,/and EACH/is one small piece/of your very own beach!" Add to that sun, birds, water, balls, umbrellas, towels, lemonade, and "YOU!" Children will delight in the exuberance of the text and the vibrant illustrations that bring all of the sights, smells, and textures to life. The characters in the gouache-and-watercolor illustrations are similar to those in Snowman, but they have a wonderful, soft quality that perfectly conveys the hazy lazy joy of being at the shore. A good choice for reading aloud.
Genevieve Gallagher, Orange County Public Library, VACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PreS. Reminiscent of William Blake's lines about finding the world in a grain of sand,
All You Need for a Beach begins: "One grain of sand / like the smallest seed, / one tiny grain / that's all you need / for a beach!" Then come the words "EXCEPT FOR," which lead the way to a scene of a full beach: "five million other grains, / ten million more, / spread them all out on the sandy shore." Each successive spread adds things that make a beach complete--the sun, an umbrella, a towel, lemonade--ending with, "All you need for a beach is . . . YOU!" Schertle's infectious rhythm adds suspense with each turn of the page, and her joyful singsong rhymes are nicely matched by sun-baked watercolors of children and grown-ups, busy and blissed-out by the shore.
Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
