Down to the Sea in Subs: Bitty Bot's Big Beach Getaway by Tim McCanna

AT THE BEACH AT BOTCO BAY,

ROBOTS LOVE TO SPLASH AND PLAY.

But Bitty Bot has qualms about the likelihood of rust in his grippers and sand in his gears. From their floats in the surf, his parents provide advice:

"YOU NEED RUSTPROOF ROBOT OIL.

COVER EVERY COG AND COIL."

Yurghh! Easy, Greasies! Bitty Bot opts for recruiting a couple of robot tots, rounding up some metal flotsam and jetsam, and building an under-the-bay submarine, and after the launch, captain and crew cruise beneath the sea and peruse the underwater beings.

CRABS AND SNAILS,
SHARKS AND WHALES!

A SUNKEN SHIP!
WHAT A TRIP"

It's Captain Bitty's kind of day at the beach until the sub springs a leak. YEEK!

But a bevy of beautiful mermaids help the hapless bots rise to the occasion, and soon Captain Bitty and his crew, Clank and Smitty, have their treads firmly back on the beach and are ready to roll! Bitty even begs his parental cyborgs for more fun in the sun and sand with his new surfside bot buddies, and in Tim McCanna's Bitty Bot's Big Beach Getaway (Simon and Schuster, 2018), his summery sequel to his first bot book, Bitty Bot, artist Tad Carpenter provides plenty of sunny yellow hues for his seaside scenes and contrasting watery shades for his charming little surfside robots' undersea explorations in a somewhat different "Come on in! The water's great!" story for young novice beach goers.

Always quick with a quip, Kirkus Reviews says “A delightful sea-quel.”

Surf Pup: Spot Goes to the Beach by Eric Hill

Spot the pup has mastered swimming! By now the swimming pool is old school.

Spot is ready to move up--to the BEACH!

Some of the rules of the pool are the same as those for the beach. Sun screen is important, and sunglasses and a sun hat are a big help. A shovel and sand pail are great for making sand castles, and a floatie can be fun for a rookie, but soon Spot is ready to move up to his little surfboard.

"THIS IS FUN!

LOOK AT ME, MOM"

Spot manages to stand up on his surf board long enough to show Mom, and then he shows her how to fall off his board, too. Luckily, Spot has all summer to practice his technique, but...

Right now it's time for a picnic, in Eric Hill's sun-and-surf-filled board book, Spot Goes to the Beach(Putnam, 2019), which introduces preschoolers to all the activities in some sunny fun times by the sea.

In the Swim: AlphaPrints: Fun In The Sun by Jo Ryan, et al

ELEPHANTS PLAYING IN THE POOL,

SPLASHING AROUND, KEEPING COOL.

Somewhere by the water is the place to be in summer, and in Jo Ryan's Alphaprints Fun in the Sun! (St. Martin's Press/Priddy Books, 2017), a whimsical crab with a thumbprint shell, feathery legs, and clothespin pincers is the guide to all the characters having fun in the sun.

Tactile illustrations based on touch-and-feel thumbprints, sandpapery castles, shiny, blue water splashes from elephant feet, and brown bear fur tempt little fingers to touch, as the elephants, bears, and crabs enjoy playing in the sand and water and a cookout on the beach.

Jolly rhymes reinforce vocabulary, and bright touch-and-feel illustrations fill the pages of this sturdy board book. Youngsters too young for surfing will have a chance to get in the swim of sand and sun fun in this latest in Roger Priddy's popular AlphaPrints series.

On the Beach: Beach Bugs: A Sunny Pop-Up Book by David A Carter

What's snugger than a bug in a rug?

Bugs in the sand bucket on a sunny beach!

And David A. Carter's Beach Bugs: A Sunny Pop-up Book by David A. Carter (David Carter's Bugs) (Simon and Schuster) gives kids about to make a trip to the beach a chance to meet Carter's cuter-than-cute bugs there.

SUMMER IS HERE AND IT'S TIME TO PLAY!

LET'S SEE WHAT THE BUGS ARE DOING TODAY!

The sun is popping up high in the sky, with just a few fleecy clouds to keep the sun company. Bugs are busy popping up everywhere on the beach, blinking and twinkling from the sand bucket, shootin' the curl, riding their boogie boards to the beach, bouncing on the roller coaster, bicycling down the beach, and snacking from the picnic basket.

And just wait! Fireworks are going to be popping up when the sun goes down.

Carter's Bug Books are noted for their skillful paper design, with sturdy paper stock pop-ups, flaps, and twinkling bug eyes that brighten the beach scene. For seaside novices of the preschool variety, new to the sand and surf, this sturdy board book offers a surprise with each page design, now a perky pop-up, there a surprise behind each flap, with some twinkling pyrotechnics for the grand finale of a day at the beach. Pack it in the beach bag and you're good to go!

Others of Carter's bug book series include How Many Bugs in a Box?: A Pop-up Counting Book (David Carter's Bugs), School Bugs: An Elementary Pop-up Book by David A. Carter (David Carter's Bugs), Alpha Bugs: A Pop-up Alphabet (David Carter's Bugs), and those back-to-school School Bugs: An Elementary Pop-up Book by David A. Carter (David Carter's Bugs).

Beach Fun: Llama Llama Sand & Sea by Anna Dewdney

It's high summer--the time that parents and kids go down to the sea in flip-flops and swimsuits.

LLAMA LLAMA AT THE BEACH,

SUNBLOCK AND ONE TOWEL EACH.

Mama has hopes of reading her book under the beach umbrella.

Little Llama wants to build a BIG sand castle.

He wants to make BIG splashes in the water.

But he gets a surprise when he finds out he shares the sea with fish and crabs and seashells with live things inside!

Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama Sand and Sun (Grossett And Dunlap) has touch-and-feel pages, with even sunglasses for Little Llama that reflect the little reader. The fish are scaly and the water splashes are sparkly, the crabs are--crabby and the sand is--scratchy, all described in Dewdney's familiar couplets and depicted in her charming illustrations in this little board book that shows so much fun in the sun. A jolly and charming book for kids about to have their first beach visit!

Sand and Surf Time! Otter: Let's Go Swimming! by Sam Garton

"I am so excited!

I will learn to swim in the sea!

Otter Keeper has the beach bag piled full of gear--masks, flippers, snorkels, shovel and pail, and beach umbrella--and Otter has... Teddy and Giraffe.

Otter has never seen the sea!

She spots the dolphins playing off shore, and she's keen to join them. That is, until she gets a little closer to the breaking waves.

"ooooOOOOO!"

Otter Keeper jumps right in with a big splash and demonstrates his strokes. Now it's Otter's turn.

Or not. Otter backs out.

"I can't go swimming now!" says Otter.

"Giraffe is scared of fish!"

Otter gets Giraffe busy building a sand castle.

Otter Keeper declares that fish are no danger to Giraffe. But then Otter insists that Teddy hates getting wet, so both of them must stay on the shore and play with the beach ball.

Otto Keeper reassures Otter that getting wet is part of the fun. Otter hides her head inside her new sand pail and finally tells the truth.

"I am scared of the sea!"Otter admits.

But Otter soon sees that no one else is staying high and dry.

"Everyone is having fun without me!"

Alone is no fun, and Otter lets Otter Keeper hold her hand for her first splash into the waves, and when it's time to go home, she's having too fun to stop. For youngsters just putting a toe in the water and into their first dip into read-alone books, Sam Garton's latest I-Can-Read story, Otter: Let's Go Swimming! (My First I Can Read) (Balzer And Bray/Harper, 2017) is just in time for a summer beach read. Otter is as adorable as ever as she takes to the water like an otter oughta, and Garton's text offers easy-going beach-related vocabulary with ample visual cues from his sunny and charming illustrations.

For little beach-o-phobes who fear getting in the swim, pair this one with David Soman's Ladybug Girl at the Beach (see review here).

Piggies! Prissy And Pop: Big Day Out by Melissa Nicholson

"WAKE UP, POP!" SAYS PRISSY. "RISE AND SHINE!"

"OOH! LET'S DO A FASHION SHOW!"

Soon Prissy and Pop, pink and white mini-pigs, are all dressed up and ready to go. But what do two piglets decked out to the nines do?

PO WANTS TO GO TO THE BEACH.

BUT PRISSY WANTS TO DO SOME GARDENING FIRST.

Patiently, Po agrees to the plan, helping Prissy put out the posies, still hoping to hit the waves soon.

"NOW CAN WE GO TO THE BEACH?"

Pop heads for the car, but Prissy is not yet done as chief expedition planner for the two. She proposes stopping off for some treats and then a stop at the playground for some swinging, sliding, and whirling on the merry-go-round. It's fun, but Po is getting pretty frustrated.

"A POLITE PIG WOULD GO RIGHT NOW!" HE POINTS OUT TO PRISSY.

Will Pop ever get to the beach, or will Prissy come up with yet another diversion? Melissa Nicholson takes her Insta-famous overdressed porkers out for a full day, in their first picture book excursion, Prissy & Pop: Big Day Out (Harper, 2016), in which eventually a good time is had by all, especially the reader. Nicholson's nattily attired piglets are terminally cute, in pearls and bowtie or in sandy swimsuits and sunscreen, and the photos of the skillfully posed pigs are most of the attraction, although Nicholson does sneak in a couple of plugs for politeness along the way. A different sort of summer beach story for the preschool/primary set.

Sun, Sea, and... Pianissimo? If You Ever Want to Bring a Piano to the Beach, DON'T! by Elise Parsley

IF YOUR MOM SAYS TO GET READY TO PLAY AT THE BEACH, SHE'S NOT TALKING ABOUT A PIANO. SHE MEANS A FRISBEE OR A SHOVEL.

IF YOU ROLL OUT THE PIANO ANYWAY, SHE'LL TELL YOU, "YOU BETTER NOT LOSE IT!"

Get a grip, Mom. How could you possibly lose a full-sized upright piano? What could possibly go wrong?

Magnolia even promises to push the piano down the walkway herself, so Mom packs up the usual beach gear--umbrella, blanket, snacks, shovels and pails--in the red wagon, pops the baby in the stroller, and heads off toward the beach.

It's a sweaty trek, but with her instrument of choice at last on the sand, Magnolia serenades her family with beach music down by the sea.

The trouble begins when Maggie decides to eat her egg-and-cheese sandwich on top of her piano and is joined by a flock of uninvited seagulls who join her for lunch. They drape the piano with sandy seaweed and proceed to decorate it with their distinctive black-and-white, er, droppings!

THIS, YOU WILL SAY, IS NOT GOOD FOR THE PIANO.

BUT YOU'LL KNOW JUST WHAT TO DO.

BATH TIME!

THE PIANO WILL BOB UP AND DOWN.

THEN UP AND AWAY....

Time and (especially) tide wait for no one, as the stubborn Magnolia finds out, in Elise Parsley's companion book to her New York Times best-seller, If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't!, her just-published If You Ever Want to Bring a Piano to the Beach, Don't! (Little, Brown and Company, 2016). As Ben Franklin might have observed, "Experience keeps a dear school, but Magnolia will learn in no other." As the sun sets in the west and on the horizon her piano floats out to sea, Magnolia wishes she'd given her plan a little more thought. Maybe a Frisbee or a shovel would have been a better choice.

Paisley's opinionated protagonist again provides a comic cautionary tale as, she learns that just because she can do something doesn't mean that she should. Paisley's illustrations tell the tale all too well, as her swarms of seagulls and the salty waves have their way with Magnolia's beloved piano. Will our heroine ever learn to curb her enthusiasm? To be continued.

Come Fly With Me! Gretchen Over the Beach by R. W. Alley

ONE BEACH DAY, GRETCHEN'S BROTHERS AND SISTER RUSHED DOWN TO THE WATER.

GRETCHEN CRIED, "WAIT UP!"

BUT NO ONE LISTENED.

Annabelle, Clark, and Mitchell shuck their shirts and with flippers, surf board, and dinosaur floatie, they hit the surf.

Little Gretchen trails behind, burdened by her flip-flops, beach towel, and a sand bucket with a busted handle that dumps her four roly-polys into the sand. No one listens to her plea for help her taking her roly-polys down to the water.

Well, phooey on them! Gretchen plops down by a tidal pool and starts to mold a sand castle when something amazing happens!

GRETCHEN'S SPORTY NEW HAT WITH THE FANCY RIBBON FLEW AWAY WITH THE BREEZE.

But Gretchen manages to grab the trailing ribbon and her roly-polys follow suit. Scrambling inside the hat, they float higher and higher. Gretchen orders the breeze to lift them to the clouds.

Gretchen goes for a dip in the wispy clouds until she drifts to a small island cloud. But alas, the hat with the four roly-polys sails on and on into a cloud, the ribbon still wafting behind. Thinking fast, Gretchen hails a passing seagull and surfs on his back toward her missing hat,  using it as a parachute to float her and the rolys safely down to the scene of her sand castle, just as her siblings stagger out of the surf to the umbrella where dad is unpacking snacks. Oblivious of her airborne adventures, big brother Clark chastises her for losing her fancy ribbon from the hat.

SHE WASN'T EVEN WORRIED ABOUT HER RIBBON.

And why should she be, when overhead there's a helpful seagull doing a flyover to return the ribbon, in R. W. Alley's Gretchen Over the Beach (Houghton Mifflin Clarion, 2016). Big brothers and sisters sometimes leave their youngest sibling behind, but the resourceful Gretchen has the best adventure of all in this sunny story of the power of fanciful thinking.

Part of a set of four forthcoming seaside stories, this one stars a resilient little heroine who imagines a way to catch a wave without hitting the water. Alley's artwork is altogether endearing, with ink-and-watercolor illustrations in watery pastel palette, set clearly somewhere on the northeastern coast, as evidenced by the weathered pink frame beach house, stone walls, and fir trees in the landscape fronting the yellow-brown sands. Only the faces and stick arms and legs of the roly-polys reveal that Gretchen has a mind of her own, a girl for whom a day at the beach has a little something extra.

Until We Meet Again.... See You Next Year by Andrew Larson

EVERY YEAR WE TAKE THE SAME ROADS.

WE ARRIVE AT THE SAME BEACH.

WE STAY AT THE SAME PLACE.

And that's the way beach lovers like it. The little beach town is the same, with its retro two-story motel overlooking a wide beach, dotted daily with big bright umbrellas and and happy beachgoers swimming, playing, sunning, and reading in the shade. Seagulls soar and scream overhead, and beyond the waves, the sea stretches on forever, as it always does.

It's a child's paradise, the stuff of lifelong memories.

But this year there is something different.

This year she finds a friend.

HE SHOWED ME HOW TO HOLD MY NOSE AND DIVE UNDER THE WAVES.

Having a friend makes all the difference. They ride the waves all the way in to the beach They dance and march together to the brass band in the town bandstand. And on a foggy, no-beach day, her friend writes postcards back home and gives her one of his and a stamp to do her own. One day they feel like digging. But before they reach the center of the earth, they reach sea level first, as water rises up in their hole.

On the last night their parents build a fire of driftwood on the beach under the stars and they roast marshmallows.

I'M GOING TO TAKE MY MARSHMALLOW STICK HOME AND SAVE IT FOR NEXT YEAR.

And that's not her only reminder of her week with her friend. There's a postcard waiting ... with just four wonderful words.

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

Lucky is the child (and grownup) who has such memories, and Andrew Larson's See You Next Year (Owlkids Books, 2015) nostalgically evokes the feelings of a week at the beach--the long anticipatory drive through familiar towns, the thrill of seeing the ocean again, unchanged and waiting, the mix of joy at familiar sights and activities and the touch of sadness as the precious days pass all too quickly.

Author Larson captures this memorable experience in a narrative of exquisitely chosen words, while Todd Stewart's illustrations feature the individualized children against an atmospheric blend of abstract beach grass, waves, and seaside skies through day and night in a lovely ocean palette of blues and greens. A hopeful promise to children who haven't spent time at the seaside and an emotional remembrance for the adults who share this book with them, this is a simple yet sophisticated encapsulation of experience within the pages of a small book.

Time and Tide! Fancy Nancy: Sand Castles and Sand Palaces by Jane O'Connor

WE ARE GOING ON AN OUTING! THAT'S FANCY FOR A SHORT TRIP!

CAN YOU GUESS WHERE?

IF YOU THINK IT'S TO THE BEACH, YOU ARE 100 PERCENT CORRECT!

That's not hard to figure when you notice Nancy's beachcombing coiffure, with shell-decorated barrettes to hold her curls in place. Mom packs the trunk with a picnic basket, beach balls, an umbrella, towels, and sandpail and shovel, and Nancy, her best friend Bree, and little JoJo climb into the car and hit the busy highway to the shore.

Finally there, Bree and Nancy head for the main attraction.

RIGHT AWAY WE RUSH DOWN TO THE OCEAN AND FROLIC IN THE WAVES.

FROLICKING IS FANCY FOR JUMPING AROUND AND HAVING FUN.

After a bit of refreshment, it's time to get serious with a sand castle.  Nancy hauls buckets of  sea water up to the building site so that  Mom can show the three girls how to make dribble turrets on top of their castle walls.  JoJo helps gather shells to decorate the battlements and discovers one shell (with a hermit crab inside) making its escape. They pronounce their sand creation a palace.

Hot and sandy, the girls head into the water, but Mom soon calls them out, saying the waves are getting too rough for frolicking. They decide to have their picnic higher up the beach under the big umbrella, and when they look back, something bad is happening!

OH, NOW LOOK WHAT THE WAVES ARE DOING!!

OUR PALACE IS IN RUINS!

Time and tide wait for no sand castle, however fancy, in Jane O'Connor's Fancy Nancy adventure, Fancy Nancy: Sand Castles and Sand Palaces (HarperFestival, 2015), but although Jojo sheds a few tears for her lost castle, Nancy points out that there's no shortage of sand on the beach, and a new edifice soon arises, bigger and better, and even more fancy--above the high tide line. All's well at the end of a great day at the beach, and to add to the fun there are over 30 sand-and-surf-themed stickers which young readers can use to add detail to Carolyn Bracken's sunny illustrations or create their own fun-in-the-sun pages themselves.

Beachin' Fun: Sea & Rex by Molly Idle

READY FOR A CAREFREE DAY IN THE SUN?

GATHER YOUR FRIENDS AND HEAD TO THE BEACH!

And when little Cordelia goes on an outing, she takes some formidable friends along, Rex and his prehistoric pals!

Nobody goes anywhere with Cordelia without instructions, however. And her little brother appropriately dressed as a pirate, listens as she runs through the rules.

STASH YOURSELF NEXT TO A LIFE GUARD, WHO WILL KEEP AN EYE ON YOU.

That seems like superfluous advice for a troop of cretaceous creatures led by a T. Rex, but Cordelia has more good advice.

USE PLENTY OF SUNSCREEN!

Oops!  Too late for Rex, who has already gone from green to bright pink. But with that detail taken care of, the group spreads out to find their own fun. Rex goes hunting for shells, but comes up with only a triceratops horn. Cordelia warns the swimmers always to jump in feet first, but Rex hits the waves for a bit of snorkeling. Now Where is he? Cordelia swims out to find Rex.

Soon it's time for the beach picnic, but...Oh, no!

Cordelia forgot to warn everyone back on the beach that sea gulls can be larcenous. One snatches the picnic basket, and another makes off with her little brother's Teddy bear. But there's no need to worry or fear; not when you have a T. Rex near! With lunch and plush lovey restored, it's a great day for all concerned.

WHEN YOU'RE SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS, LIFE'S A DAY AT THE BEACH!

Molly Idle's latest, a girl-and-her-dinosaur idyll on the shore, Sea Rex (Viking Books, 2015), shows the two unlikely buddies and friends shell-hunting and sand castle constructing, doing all the things kids love to do beside the sea.

Idle's illustrative style is like no other. Her colored pencil strokes are all broad and curvaceous, from Cordelia's little round tummy, to the sandy shore dunes, to Rex's voluminous rotundity, giving her stories a soothing fullness. This one, like her Caldecott-winning Flora and the Flamingo, has a serenity of line and its own joie de vive as an odd couple of pals find a new place to play together for fun in the sun.

Parting the Waters: Chu's Day at the Beach by Neil Gaiman and Adam Rex

IT WAS A HOT DAY AND CHU AND HIS FAMILY WENT TO THE BEACH.

BUT WHEN CHU SNEEZES... BIG THINGS HAPPEN.

But, hey! No problem at the beach, right? No daisy pollen, no peppery chimichangas, no chalk dust or circus sawdust to give Chu a snoot full and set off the sneezes! Mom stretches out in the sun for a quiet beach read, and Dad wades in the almost waveless shallows. An octopus vendor hands Chu an ice cream cone. What could possibly disturb this idyllic scene?

CHU TOOK OFF HIS SUNGLASSES.

THE DAY WAS SUNNY AND BRIGHT.

CHU'S NOSE TICKLED. THE TICKLE GOT BIGGER AND BIGGER.

Ahh! AHHH! AHHHH! CHOOOOOOOOO!

Chu's sneeze creates a tsunami! The waters flow backward and then move back toward the beach, freezing into a giant wave hovering over the sand. The bedazzled beachcombers are agog. It's like looking through the aquarium glass at Sea World. The amazed fish wave at Chu and he waves back. A merpanda girl gives him a big smile, and a giant whale wails that he's stranded.

"I CAN'T GO HOME!"

The ocean is broken! There's only one thing to do. Chu HAS to sneeze again. Fast!

A seagull plucks a tail feather to tickle his nose.

AH... AHH... AHHH... Nope.

The vendor hands him a fizzy drink to fizzle his nose. Ah... Ahh...Ahhh. No way, Nose-ay.

Is the ocean really split forever?

Then a very little snail comes up with a quick idea.

"Sometimes I sneeze when I see the sun."

Chu removes his sunglasses again. Bingo!

"AAAAAH... CHOOOOOOOO!"

The sea flows back together, the sea animals rejoice at their reunion, and although there is some collateral damage to the shore (ice cream cones all around), the waters go back to where they are supposed to be as the little merpanda swims over to Chu to confess that sometimes she sneezes big time, too.

It's just a day at the beach in Neil Gaiman's latest Aw, Chu! fest, Chu's Day at the Beach (Harper-Collins, 2015). Artist Adam Rex adds his usual charmingly detailed illustrations, with a terminally cute Chu in his 1890s swimsuit and giraffe floatie, as totally befuddled as always by his superpower sneezes. Says School Library Journal, "Rex's menagerie of anthropomorphized animals, including merpandas, drawn in hyper-realistic human settings creates a humorous alternate reality that perfectly complements the plot. VERDICT A fun addition to most picture book collections."

A splashy read-aloud for the summer set, especially when paired with Chu's other sneezy-breezy adventures. (see reviews here.)