Is there anyone else who can ask big questions in such a child friendly way better than Kevin Henkes? He really is a master of the slow, gentle picture book that follows the mindset and thoughts of a child. Following the season books, illustrated Laura Dronzek, the married duo is back again at creating magic, this time about time at the beach.

There's a moment when the main character mentions how her grandmother said something and while she didn't understand what he said exactly, she nodded along anyway. See what I mean about Henkes understanding children? He acknowledges that some things grown ups say may be difficult, but they are still interesting and important and that the child's own wonderings are just as meaningful.

Dronzek's illustrations are lush and beautiful, offering varying shades of blue along the beach, under the water, and as a storm rolls in.

Ending with musings about the little houses all around us, this quiet picture book is wonderful beach reading for all ages.

Rounded up because I was always looking for good grandparent books, though this has more to do with nature and wonder. Plus, the beautiful illustrations helped.

A child is visiting their grandparents on the beach and only collects the empty seashells with her grandmother while enjoying the beauty with her grandfather who encourages her to learn everything.

Another sweet storybook from Kevin Henkes that has the themes of summertime and beaches, visiting the Grandparents, and finding treasures.

Reviewed from a library copy.

A cute book that has a small girl marveling that the vastness of the world while contemplating the small shells she finds that the beach. She thinks about different shells and the animals that lived in them, the ocean and all that is in it as well as shells and how far they can travel. The illustrations are rich, but the words are sometimes a bit disjointed in what they are trying to convey.

sweet

This book has such a melancholy tone, I really like it! TALK

A library check out (wish I could recall who mentioned it). Lovely—how I hope to be a grandmother by the sea.