Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Small Readers: Beach day! by Candice Ransom, illustrated by Erika Meza

 This is a simple easy reader, showing a family setting off for a day at the beach. They pack the car, play in the ocean, have a picnic and ice cream, then finish off the day with a stop at the fair and a few rides.

The text is in a white font against the soft, colored backgrounds of sky, from the morning sunrise to the evening sunset. Digital illustrations show a family with two children enjoying their day on the beach. The text is in rhyme and is a large font. It's leveled to F&P level G, if that is of interest to you.

So, why purchase this very average easy reader of a day at the beach? Because it is the only easy reader I can think of to depict a Black family at the beach. The focus is completely on the family, showing the loving parents watching their children as they play together and alone. The only other people pictured are a young man with brown skin selling ice cream and an older woman with gray hair selling cotton candy. The father and son hang out together in their shorts, while the girl wears a cute little one-piece with a yellow frill and the mom a one-piece suit and occasionally a yellow cover-up.

Verdict: It's important to have a wide variety of easy readers for beginning readers and I would purchase this one just for the main collection, but with the warm depiction of a Black family this becomes a unique, must-have title for your collection. Incidentally, there is a whole series featuring this family and I recommend them all!

ISBN: 9781524720445; Published May 2020 by Random House; Purchased for the library

No comments: