Two For the Ocean

Vacation: We're Going to the Ocean

by David L. Harrison

illustrated by Rob Shepperton

Wordsong (Boyds Mills Press), 2009

review copy provided by the publisher

I saw this excellent little volume of poetry reviewed for Poetry Friday last week by Sylvia at Poetry for Children, and lo and behold, I found it today, waiting, on my very own bookshelf, for review for the Notables!

Kids will love the friendly little size of this book and the story it tells of going to the ocean for vacation, from the moment the family loads up into the car, through the sand burials, the no-see-ums and the sand castles, all the way to the dumping of the stinky dead crab and the return home. The poems and the pictures work perfectly together.

Mother Osprey: Nursery Rhymes for Buoys & Gulls

by Lucy Nolan

illustrated by Connie McLennan

Sylvan Dell, 2009

review copy provided by the publisher

To continue on the theme of the ocean, we have a new collection of Mother Goose rhymes told by Mother Osprey. Here's an example:

Mary Had a Little Clam

Mary had a little clam--

its shell was white as snow.

And everywhere that Mary went,

the clam was sure to go.

He followed her to school one day.

He set out in September

but reached the school in mid July--

clams cannot rush, remember?

Where were all the boys and girls

to play with as he'd dreamed?

School was out for summer break--

boy, was that clam steamed!

Kids will love this! Jack and June go up a dune, the old woman lives in a shell, and Hattaras light is falling down, falling down, falling down. I'm sure this will be a favorite for choosing poems to perform for Poetry Friday in my 4th grade classroom!