Liz and the Sand Castle Contest

The Critter Club #11

by Callie Barkley, Marsha Riti (Illustrator)

Liz deals with some un friendly competition at the beach and tries to rescue a baby octopus in the eleventh book of The Critter Club series.

Liz and her family are at the beach! Liz loves building sand sculptures, so when she sees a flyer for a sand castle competition, of course she enters. She thinks she’s found a new friend when she meets her neighbor Tommy, who is also competing, but Tommy’s not so nice. He teases Liz about the castle she’s building and he laughs when one of the pieces caves in. Then Liz’s castle gets ruined overnight! It’s the day of the contest judging, and Liz no longer has anything to enter. Did Tommy destroy Liz’s sand castle? Plus, Liz finds a baby octopus that needs help! Will she be able to get the octopus back in the ocean and swimming again?

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Critter Club chapter books are perfect for beginning readers!

Genres: Childrens, Animals, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 2015

Reviews

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was a fun book but not the strongest in the series. Liz is at her family's lake house and there is a sand castle creation contest. Sand castles are her JAM so she tries to enter but this mean boy tries to take her spot. The 2 have a kind of adversarial relationship until Liz's sand castle is freakishly blown away. They work together to make one big castle. They don't win or even place in the top 3 but they worked together. I loved seeing an atypical ending and even though they still got an honorable mention medal. Cute enough!

[Jess Borer]

This is a very cute story with a very good message underneath it. This is a story about a young girl, Liz, who is going to spend a long weekend at the beach with her family. She ends up entering a sand castle contest and comes across a boy who doesn't seem to be the nicest. When Liz finds an octopus in need of help, she spend most of her day helping the octopus and not working on her castle. The next day she goes back to her sand castle only to see that the winds had ruined it. The not so nice boy actually turns out to have great sportsmanship and asks Liz to help him finish his sandcastle and they end up winning an award.

Questions
1)What is Liz's first impression of Tommy?
2)What does Liz's brother love to do at the beach?
3)What does Liz accidentally do to Tommy at put-put golf?
4)Who does Liz think ruined her sandcastle and why?
5)What kind of lesson about judging people does this book teach us?


Barkley, C., & Riti, M. (n.d.). Liz and the sand castle contest.

[Boyles Kids Book Tracker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liz goes on a beach vacation to Luna Beach and enters a sand castle contest. She thinks the boy next to her, Tommy, is mean, but it turns out he isn't mean, he was just nervous. After Liz's castle gets blown down, she joins Tommy and they win an Honorable Mention in the contest. Liz also helps a baby octopus get strong enough to go out to deeper waters.

[Kelsey Smajda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 year old daughter loves the Critter Club series. This particular one I read along with her. It was a great summer beach read for kids!

[Elena Gussman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading the books to my sister!! She loves them too!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appropriate for: any age!

My 5 year old daughter loves Critter Club and so do I! The books always have a good message.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this together with my daughter it was super cute

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute book

[Dannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just the right level for my 6 yo reader. Simple plot and nice message.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this to Jane. It's a cute little chapter book with lots of pictures and big words, which would be great for 1st or 2nd grade readers. Cute story for summer about a sand castle contest.

[Kylie]

Summary
Liz and her family are headed to Luna Beach for a fun-filled weekend at the cabin. She will miss the Critter Club and helping out animals with all of her friends. But Liz can't wait to body board, draw sketches of the beach and build sand castles. When they arrive, Liz finds out there is a sand castle building contest being held at the beach that weekend and can't wait to join. She meets a neighbor about her age named Tommy entering the contest also, who is not very nice to Liz right away. During the contest Liz discovers a baby octopus in need of her help. She halts the contest and makes it her mission to care for the animal and keep it safe. The next day Liz comes back to her sand castle to find it has been ruined. She immediately wonders if Tommy could do such a thing. Liz figures out a way to remain in the sand contest, save the octopus and even make a new friend in this tale of her weekend at Luna Beach!

Activity
1) What does the critter club do?
2) Liz spends the weekend at the beach with her family. What are some things you would like to do at the beach?
3) What did Liz find in the water at the beach? What would you do if you found what she did?
4) Why do you think Liz assumed it was Tommy that ruined her sandcastle in the contest?
5) What does Tommy do for Liz after her sandcastle was ruined? Why do you think Tommy did this?

Citation
Barkley, C. (2015). Liz and the Sand Castle Contest (The Critter Club, #11). New York, NY. Simon & Schuster, Inc.