Independent Reading Level: K-1
Awards: One of the year’s 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books by the New York Times in 2008, a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators Original Art 2008, Best Books of the Year, Children’s Picture Books by Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal Best books of 2008, and Scripps Howard News Service Favorite Children’s Books of 2008.

Independent Reading Level: K-1
Awards: One of the year’s 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books by the New York Times in 2008, a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators Original Art 2008, Best Books of the Year, Children’s Picture Books by Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal Best books of 2008, and Scripps Howard News Service Favorite Children’s Books of 2008.

This wordless book follows the storyline of a young girl we in exploring the ocean and conquering her fear of the water/waves. I loved this book! The illustrations are simple yet filled with things to notice and wonder about. Observations about the young girls facial expressions, the color on the page, and the seagulls are all great things to discuss with primary students. I could definitly see myself finding a use for this book in my future classroom and having impactful conversations about it with students.

- Age: Primary

- About a girl playing with the ocean and messing around in the water with the birds

- Yes because it is very sweet and invovles water which I love

This book's illustrations were simple but beautiful and told the story of a young girl at the beach who overcame her fear of the ocean. Students can look at this book and decode the emotions the character is feeling by decoding her body language. The use of color is very cool in this book as well. This would be a good book for Kindergarten or 1st-grade students, and they can think about how pictures play a role in the story. They can work on analyzing what other people might be thinking or feeling and can add language around what they see. This could be an introduction to inferences, and empathy, and students could pause and fill out a sentence frame for different pages (The character feels ______. I know this because ____) ( )