CHICKA CHICKA SUN AND SEA

Familiar friends at the beach entice burgeoning readers.

In this tale that follows the framework of the classic picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, the letters of the alphabet have a message for one another: “A told B, and B told C… // it is a nice day to sit by the sea!” Page by page, more letters are introduced, frolicking in the sand or splashing in the water—all beneath the fronds of that famous coconut tree, of course. “M, N, and O ride the waves. // P, Q, and R sit in the shade.” A friendly red crab scuttles on each spread (sometimes hiding). Most letters arrive with an accessory; some match the letter’s phonetic sound (“G” has glasses, for instance), but others do not. Fun hats, towels, pails, and happily, a book are also included. A stretch of sand anchors the background, with large swaths of white space on top where the text appears. Each letter has an individual color; some repeat, but never on the same spread. Echoing the original once again, the entire alphabet piles onto the bending tree to watch the sunset—luckily, no one comes crashing down this time. Prefacing this sunny read is helpful information for early readers: boxes containing word families, sight words, and bonus words, along with comprehension questions at the end.

Kids will be eager to ride the reading wave.