In spite of very up-and-down temperatures, nights in the 40s, and air filled with smoke from the wildfires in Canada which are causing hazardous air quality warnings, summer is still coming!
So let’s have a beach story today! 😊
Title: The Sandcastle That Lola Built
Written By: Megan Maynor
Illustrated By: Kate Berube
Knopf Books For Young Readers, May 2018, fiction
Suitable For Ages: 3-5
Themes/Topics: seasons (summer), cooperation, perseverance, cumulative tale
Opening: “This is the sandcastle that Lola built.“
Brief Synopsis: Lola is building a sandcastle. One challenge after another is surmounted by resourcefulness and cooperation. Until the wave…! Will Lola ever get that sandcastle built?
Links To Resources: design and build your own sandcastle at the beach, playground, or your own back yard! Draw a picture of what you think would be the perfect sandcastle. Write your own cumulative tale about something that gets bigger and bigger, or more and more complicated, or crazier and crazier!
Why I Like This Book: I love this book because the story is cheerful and friendly and the illustrations are sunny and fun. Lola is trying to build a sandcastle to signal mermaids, but first a foot kicks it over, than a bulldozer digs into it, then a bucket of shells falls on it… In each case, Lola cheerfully invites the newcomer to join in, recruiting them to build protective walls, dig a surrounding moat, lay a pathway of shells… and the sandcastle becomes better and better the more children join in. When the wave comes along and washes Lola’s beautiful castle out to sea she despairs of ever seeing the mermaids (who appear in the clouds above her), but her new friends encourage her and are keen to try again. It’s a lovely story of determination, friendship, and cooperation all at the beautiful, sunny, summer beach! You’ll want to pack a copy in your beach bag 😊
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
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Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 😊
Susanna Leonard Hill 
This is indeed a perfect summer book!
What fun! A perfect choice for the start of summer!
I was so happy to see some blue sky this morning! Hope you get some up there too:)
I love how the kids in this book learn to cooperate and accept the others’ ideas of what makes a grand sand castle.
I’m so sorry that your weather and air quality are not what they should be! The east coast and inland are now looking like the west coast has for several summers. This is not a good thing.
I’m glad you chose this fun, summer book as a way to inject a little lightheartedness during the apocalypse! As I was reading your review, I kept thinking….yet, she persisted…and then yes, it takes a village to build a sand castle! And then, geez, I wish I were at the beach and building sand castles, LOL. A perfect choice for the start of the summer reading season!
What a perfect book to get kids excited about visiting the beach. My favorite place. So many memories of my daughter building sand castles and the big summer contest at Siesta Key Beach where the real pros build sand castles.
I like this book, too. It was fun to see the “obstacles” became friends & co-creators. A perfect book for the start of summer. Hope the fires get under control soon and your skies clear.
This is a great summer read! Love the working together and having fun with so many friends!
This has been a favorite of mine for several years. Happy to see it featured here. It’s a gem!
Hope the smoke, and the wildfires in Canada, abate soon. They’ve affected so many people. Not a good start to the summer.