Ah…the wonders of a beach walk.  This charming book delights in many ways. First, the entire story is told with s-words, adjectives, verbs, and nouns: scruffy, slosh, and, best of all, standstill, as the two beachgoers, a mother and a child, encounter something special.

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SEASIDE STROLL

Charles Trevino – Author
Maribel Lechuga – Illustrator

Told with only words that begin with “s” this picture book is superbly surprising. A little girl and her mother bundle up for a winter visit to the seaside.

The little girl brings along her doll, and they explore the snowy sand together. She finds a stick, swings it at the seagulls.

There are shells, stones, seaweed and more to discover on the sand.

She is surprised when a surge of water takes her doll away and into a tidepool.

The doll is soaked and after the doll is saved, the little girl is sopping wet too. Cold and shivering, they leave the beach and head home for a hot shower and a cozy story before bed.

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The author has created a world of snow and sand for us to share with our families.   Our beaches may not have snow, but it continues to be cold and windy. The joy of exploring the cold seaside all bundled up and the wonder of discovery is loved by us, all.  We continue to build our memories.

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Author’s note…

Has a word ever clanked around in you head, demanding
your attention, and then other words join in?  Each word
brings its own ideas, impressions and images.  I began
writing this story with the words step, step, and other
words wanted to tag along, to go wherever we were headed.
The story became similar to a poem.  And it’s a collection
of sensory words all starting with the letter S about
exploring a beach in wintertime.  The story uses nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and two interjections.

-Nouns are generally people, places or things.
-Verbs are action words,
-Adjectives are descriptive words.
-Interjections are exclamations.

Did you notice the structure?  The first eight lines and the
last eight lines of the story match.

For example, the first line of the story goes like this:
Scruffy shoes, socks, sweater…scratchy, silly scarf.

That matches its partner line:
Sopping shoes, socks, sweater…salty, silly scarf.

And this is the eighth line of the story:
Spectacular.  Sparkling.  Smile.  Super!

And it matches its partner:
Safe.  Snug.  Sleep.  Shhh!

The poem’s rhythm and pace are meant to capture the
wonder of exploration and discovery.