It's a Seashell Day

by Dianne Ochiltree, Elliot Kreloff (Illustrations)

Winner of the Florida Book Awards' Gold/Reichert Award!

Sunny-as-a-summer-sky rhymes chronicle a mother and son sharing a day of sand digging, seashell collecting, and seashore exploring. Kids will learn about a variety of shells and count along with the boy as he totals up his collection, puts his shells away, and then drifts off into a well-earned bedtime. A spread of seashell facts caps off the story.

This captivating, narrative nonfiction title featuring nature and counting is an ideal fit for home, preschool and kindergarten bookshelves. Pair it with the author’s beloved It’s a Firefly Night for a delightful day-to-night duo.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Summer, Nature, Fiction, Family

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2015

About the author

Dianne Ochiltree is a nationally recognized author of books for the very young. Her books have been featured on recommended lists, translated to foreign language editions, released in audio versions and selected for use in lesson plans by teachers nationwide. Her picture book, LULL-A-BYE, LITTLE ONE, has been a selection in the Dollywood Foundation's childhood literacy initiative, Imagination Library, since 2007. Her picture book, MOLLY BY GOLLY! THE LEGEND OF MOLLY WILLIAMS AMERICA'S FIRST FEMALE FIREFIGHTER, received the Florida Book Awards Bronze Medal in the Children’s Literature category in 2012. Her picture book, IT'S A FIREFLY NIGHT, won the Florida Book Awards Silver Medal in 2013. Her upcoming picture book, IT'S A SEASHELL DAY (July 2015), winner of the Gold Medal/Gwen Reichert Award from the Florida Book Awards, encourages an appreciation of nature...and there's counting , too! Dianne lives in Sarasota, Florida, where she writes, draws, teaches yoga, and goes on therapy dog visits with her furry girlfriend, Sally. For more information about her books, go to dianneochiltree.com

Reviews

[Kitty Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written and educational! I enjoyed this book as a 42 year old mom and passed it on to my nieces and nephews to read. They all truly enjoyed it as well. The illustrations are bright and cheery and make you feel like you're on a seashell hunt as you sit in your living room reading to the kids.

What I loved most about this book was the educational value. Children get to learn about the different types of shells they can find on the beach and that they all were once the homes the homes of many sea creatures.

Overall, this is a great book for any season, but especially for the summer. I gave this wonderful little book a solid 5 Ravens!

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another fiction book that has dual content, picturing actual shell varieties and offering an age-appropriate back-matter chart of the various shells collected. The very basic rhyming text and use of core words (counting) are a good match for the colorful but simple images of seashore, home, and people. Best suited for the very young, but the chart in back clearly labels the shells with their technical names.

[Kathy Temean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this picture book! It is so much fun. The story is interesting, the rhyme is perfect, and the illustrations are fabulous. Dianne Ochiltree has given us another wonderful book. At the end of the book there is a page that shows the shells, gives the names, and describes the shells collected on the beach - nice touch.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very nice book with great pictures and a little bit of counting and science thrown in.

[Wendy Kuzma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book with rhyming text would be fun to read at a family storytime then have a beach-themed sensory bin with seashells to interact with after storytime.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

short text// toddler/ preschool beach storyt time

[Joey Gremillion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nu, your mishpucha coming to visit Florida? Great book for the grandchildren to not only get them excited about the beach, but to learn about seashells, the beach and practice rhyming and counting.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful, textured illustrations; competent, rhyming tale of a boy's beach-combing adventure.

[Juliana Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A boy and his mother spend the day collecting seashells. He counts them as he goes, collecting ten unique shells and lots of little ones. He fills is bucket and brings them home. Then he makes a display of the shells he has found. There are non-fiction facts about seashells at the end of the book.
http://julianaleewriter.com/books-ali...

[Dianne Ochiltree · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rhyming picture book about a boy and a mom exploring the seaside together on a sunny day at the beach. Great art and story!

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC supplied by publisher via Edelweiss

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Carrie Charley Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful!

[ErinTheLibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

good for toddlers

[Romelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes more information on shells in the back matter.

[Lindsey Aduskevich]

I loved this book along with Dianne's other book IT'S A FIREFLY NIGHT. I think both of these books are just lovely. I love the counting theme, the search and the enjoyment of the precious shells. Dianne has a wonderful way with words as you will see in this lyrical story. The illustrations are equally enchanting. For those of you with kids who love the beach, this is the perfect picture book for you.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely for beginning learners about shells and enjoying finding them at the beach. Told in a sparse rhyming text one can focus on very basic illustrations. What turns this into a four star rating is the last two pages that are good for novice shellers, both the young and adults. Basic facts like sheets are skeletons of mollusks. The best time to find shells is at low tide. These are the basic facts to know no matter your age.

Versailles KY PL

[Lori Tart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this cute story to read my preschoolers this summer, but I really liked the story myself. It has wonderful illustrations as well as a solid story for littles. I have so many beautiful shells that I will be putting into a sensory bin when we read this book and I think they'll bring this story further life. On it's own, though, it's a real collector's piece.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the art and the cadence of the story was kind of sing songy. the facts at the back are great. I'm sure my granddaughter will love this.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute rhymes and illustrations are in this picture book. It’s a good read aloud.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book for my seashell collecting grandchildren. And names of all the different shells at the end. They liked it.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun illustrations and a simple story about a little boy and his mom at the beach. Appropriate and fun for a preschool story time on summer, mothers, beaches, or oceans.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy has fun at the beach with his mom, and even counts some seashells, in this color picture book with simple text.

This would be a great beach-themed story time book.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like collecting seashells and thought the book was educational. I didn't like the illustrations in the book though.

[Tiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful seashells, hear the ocean. Reminds me of my childhood, the beautiful part. Gets me nostalgic. Lovely book to share with kids of all ages.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute counting, rhyming book about seashell collecting with back-matter facts about seashells.

[Alice Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great summer read with bonus shell identification content at the end!

[Aarvik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice read about sea and it’s shells 🐚 and the fun therein 😊!

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toddler and preschool
Rhyming