REVIEW: LET’S CELEBRATE FRIENDSHIP DAY!

​Friendship Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in August. Let’s celebrate by reading two picture books that showcase two very different friendship stories, but are both perfect for summer!  

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​TITLE: SWASHBY AND THE SEA
AUTHOR: Beth Ferry
ILLUSTRATOR: Juana Martinez-Neal
PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/2020
OPENING LINES: 
Captain Swashby loved the sea. The sea and he had been friends for a long, long time. She knew him in and out, up and down, and better than anyone.
So, when Swashby retired, it was to a small house on a small beach as close to the sea as he could be. Whenever he needed something, the sea provided exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.

​This is a story about the relationship between an old sea captain and the sea. They have a longstanding friendship, and, as the opening lines suggest, the sea has provided Captain Swashby with “exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.” So, when a young girl and her granny move in next door and disrupt Swashby’s serene life, readers will delight in the way the sea “fiddles” with Swashby’s attempts to make them go away. As someone who grew up near the beach, I love the idea of the sea as a character, who fiddles with messages written in the sand. I also love the dreamy, sea-colored images of waves, sandcastles, and sea creatures. And I cannot get enough of the human characters in the book. Captain Swashby is salty! He’s the kind of grump you want to hug, and I love how Juana Martinez-Neal draws his red nose peaking above his wiry beard and his hair which even looks like ocean waves. The little girl is the perfect little someone to turn Swashby’s saltiness into something a little sweeter. She’s playful and oblivious to Swashby’s annoyance, just like a typical child. She and her granny are just adorable! As a picture book “addict” and a huge fan of both Beth Ferry and Juana Martinez-Neal, I can say this book did not disappoint. This book has everything I love: illustrated end papers, dust jacket with a differently-illustrated cover, beach waves, sand, sandcastles, seagulls, sea captains, little girls & grannies, a friendship story with heart, dreamy illustrations, and even ice cream, lobster, and s’mores on the beach. Run, don’t walk to your library or bookstore and grab yourself a copy of this book!

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​TITLE: DUSK EXPLORERS
AUTHOR: Lyndsay Leslie
ILLUSTRATOR: Ellen Rooney
PUBLISHER: Page Street Kids/2020
OPENING LINES: 
The sun begins to sink.
The neighborhood beckons…
Looking for tree climbers
who love to monkey from branch to branch
to see who can soar the highest
and find courage in the roughness of bark
And the gentle flutter of leaves.

This book is just lovely. Reading it brought back memories of long summer days when my friends and I would spend as much time outside as possible catching fireflies, playing tag, and exploring the nearby stream & woods. Since my children do the same things now, this shows how this book has a timeless message. Lindsay's lyrical text pairs perfectly with Ellen Rooney's dreamy illustrations. A great read for summer or any time!
 
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