Beach Party! [Board book]

Harriet Ziefert (Author), Simms Taback (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 1 and up

Scooting, slithering, flapping, and twisting!
What kind of walking can you do today?
Can you scoot like a crab?
Bend like a starfish?
Fly like a seagull looking for a fish?

A new additional to this successful series of board books, Beach Party! invites readers to join the parade of animals and imitate their sounds as they all head to the beach. This wonderful rhyming text will delight children of all ages. They will surely want to jump to their feet and move!

Caldecott-winning artist Simms Taback's rich and vibrant illustrations bring a day at the beach to life. This sturdy board book format is perfect for little hands.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreS–Readers are asked, What kind of walking can you do today? Thus starts a promenade of sea creatures that scoot, slither, dash, or slide across the pages. A lobster dances, a penguin flaps, and an octopus twists. Once all 11 animals are introduced, readers are invited to join them as they head for a swim. The words that describe the varied movements are then repeated as a horizontal list of action verbs. The rhyming text ends abruptly with a splash. This board book could entertain energetic toddlers or emerging readers. The cartoon illustrations are bright and simple. Two flat colors, mustard sand and sky blue, with an unsteady black horizon between them, form the backdrop for the parade. The smiling animals are broadly drawn with a thick black line, and their friendly demeanor will attract children.–Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
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About the Author

Harriet Ziefert has written more than two hundred books for children, including the award-winning A New Coat for Anna . She and Simms Taback have been collaborating together for more than 20 years.

Simms Taback won a Caldecott Honor Award for There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly and the Caldecott Medal for Joseph Had a Little Overcoat , of which Horn Book wrote, "The art sings with color and movement." He lives and works in the Catskill Mountai

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 1 and up
  
• Board book: 7 pages
• Publisher: Blue Apple Books (February 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593540671
• ISBN-13: 978-1593540678
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,055,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harriet Ziefert was born in New Jersey. She grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, where she attended the local schools. She graduated from Smith College, then received a Masters degree in Education from New York University. "About twelve years ago," says Ziefert in a 1995 interview, "I tried to get a job as an editor, but no one would hire me as a trade editor. So I decided to write my own books." Since then, she has written several hundred books, mostly picture books and easy-to-read books. "I write books very quickly," she says, "in about twelve hours. I rewrite them three times over three days, and then they're done." She writes about twenty books a year. Ziefert's picture book A New Coat for Anna is about a girl in a bombed-out European city during the months just after World War II. Anna has outgrown her old coat, and her mother trades her few surviving treasures--a watch, a lamp, a necklace, and a porcelain teapot--in order to obtain wool and have it spun, woven, and finally sewn into a fine red coat for Anna. A Horn Book Magazine reviewer stated, "the simple text, based on a true story, carries the narrative along effectively." The book, which was illustrated by Anita Lobel, was chosen as one of ten books to be read aloud by former First Lady Barbara Bush as part of a program promoting reading. Ziefert was invited to the White House for the occasion. The reason Ziefert began writing easy-to-read books was that she felt "they were getting too hard for kids to read in the first grade." She says that she wrote easy-to-read books with seventy-five or fewer words, even ones with fifty or fewer words, "to see how much of a story" she could produce with that limit. She enjoyed the challenge, and cites her book Sleepy Dog as an example. "Sleepy Dog is the most successful book I've ever done, in terms of number of books sold." She's also been working on a developmental program with publisher Dorling Kindersley, made up of books for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Her book Pete's Chicken, which was illustrated by Laura Rader, was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review as "a simple, sweet 'Song of Myself' for children . . . [which] applauds the specialness of every child as it reminds parents of the healing power of just being there for children." Among her other books is a series of easy-to-read books, such as Trip Day and Worm Day, about an inventive science teacher and his rambunctious class of students. Ziefert's book Let's Get a Pet was named an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children by a joint committee of the National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council. . Ms. Ziefert lives in Maplewood, New Jersey and Lincoln, Massachusetts. She has two adult sons.