Fiction - Transportation & Travel, Fiction - Animals - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - Animals - Marine Life, Fiction - Nature, Fiction - Family Life
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Overview
From out of the sea, from out of the spray, the crab family's going on holiday! And so begins a grand day out at the seashore, as a family of crabs ventures on land to picnic on the beach (yum, peanut butter and jellyfish!), play games in an arcade (not even a crab wins at The Claw), and slide and glide in a water park. This is no ordinary boardwalk. Here, a seagull runs the candy store, a shark sits in front of a tattoo parlor, a seahorse hawks prizes, and the water park's lifeguard is an octopus. Join Mom, Dad, two crablets, and Grannie as they create holiday memories like no other. Young readers will delight in the clever rhyming verses paired with wacky and wonderful illustrations from the imagination of acclaimed New Hampshire artist Marty Kelley.Editorials
Publishers Weekly
In Benoit’s slight but high-spirited debut, a happy-go-lucky crab family enjoys a holiday at the seaside. In appropriate vacation garb—the grandmother sports a patterned swimsuit and flowered bathing cap, and the camera-toting father wears socks and sandals on his eight legs—the quintet dives into the resort’s attractions. Benoit has fun with wordplay (“The crabs go in search of an afternoon treat:/ Peanut butter and jellyfish—bon appetit!”), but more often than not, the couplets sacrifice clarity (or logic) for the sake of a rhyme; after the crabs climb into a pipe that unexpectedly lands them in a water park, “Awe-struck, incredulous, thanking their grandma,/ The crabs find themselves in crustacean nirvana.” The story relies heavily on Kelley’s (The Messiest Desk) lively, googly-eyed cartoons to give the characters personalities, albeit ones built on cliché (exhausted parents, wacky grandma, kids dressed in pink and blue). Throughout, Benoit refers to the group simply as “the crabs” or “the crab family,” making readers feel like distant observers of the action; the “two little crablets” don’t even get names. Ages 4–8. (June)School Library Journal
PreS-K—"From out of the sea, from out of the spray,/The crab family's going on holiday!" Father, mother, grandma, and sister and brother crablets all head for a seaside resort to try out the pool and spa, an arcade, and a water park. The bright cartoon illustrations show each creature with distinct characteristics and attire, living it up on the beach until it's time to return to the sea. Dad clutches a camera, mom has polka-dot glasses, grandma wears a white bathing cap with flowers (and is game for anything), sister has a snorkel outfit, and brother, a baseball hat. Their antics are fun but a little hard to follow because of the busyness of the illustrations, and sometimes the rhyming couplets are labored. But even though both pictures and text could use more clarity, libraries needing more books on summer might want to add this one. It will certainly appeal to a young child's sense of humor.—Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LABook Details
Published
June 15, 2012
Publisher
Islandport Press, Incorporated
Pages
36
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781934031957