Beach Bummer (A Little Bruce Book)

by Ryan T. Higgins

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

From beloved author-illustrator Ryan T. Higgins and his equally beloved bear Bruce, Beach Bummer brings Bruce's adorable grumpiness back to the page and it's just as wonderful as always.

#1 New York Times best-selling author Ryan T. Higgins celebrates the delights of summer in this bite-sized Little Bruce Book perfect for fans of Mother Bruce.

It’s beach day in Soggy Hollow! Everyone is enjoying fun in the sun – everyone, that is, except for Bruce. It's too hot, too sandy, and too windy! Bruce’s favorite thing about summer? Doing nothing. In the shade. Where it’s cool. Bruce’s second favorite thing about summer? When it turns to fall.

Read the other Little Bruce Books!

• Spring Stinks
• Thanks for Nothing!
• Out Cold

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781368090247
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/07/2024
Series:	Mother Bruce Series
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	30,418
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 7.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Ryan T. Higgins (ryanthiggins.com) is the author and illustrator of the New York Times best-selling Mother Bruce, which received the E. B. White Read-Aloud Award and the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor; Hotel Bruce; BE QUIET!; and Bruce's Big Move. He lives in Maine with his wife and kids and lots of pets.

Editorial Reviews

01/01/2024

PreS-Gr 2—It's a hot summer day in Soggy Hollow. While the geese and mice want relief at the beach, Bruce just wants to sit at home. Eventually worn down by their imploring looks, Bruce relents, and they head to the beach with Bruce lugging all the equipment. Bruce's curmudgeonly ways don't spoil the outing for the others, but rain drives them all back home. A laugh-out-loud ending will surprise readers as Bruce has a turn of heart and creates a wonderful beach substitute for his companions. Delightful illustrations capture emotion with great humor. VERDICT Fans of the "Mother Bruce" series will not be disappointed, and newcomers will want to read more of the adventures of this grouchy bear and his friends.—John Scott

School Library Journal

2024-02-17
Bruce the bear shepherds his family of geese and mice on a trip to the seaside.

It’s hot—too hot—and everyone is feeling it. Everyone but Bruce, who, unbothered, appears to be taking a page from his book The Joys of Doing Nothing. Not ones to languish long, the mice propose turning the house into a beach resort; when Bruce shoots that idea down, they suggest going to the beach. The geese agree and enthusiastically run ahead, leaving Bruce to carry the gear. The mice and geese have fun in the sun while the long-suffering Bruce wrestles with their umbrella and floaties. A rollicking time is had by all, except, of course, poor Bruce. Finally settled, with a relaxed “Ahhhh,” Bruce is once again reunited with his book. Unsurprisingly, the respite is short-lived, and the sky almost immediately fills with clouds, then torrential rain. The beachgoers run for home, leaving Bruce once again to clean up. Disappointed, the mice and geese look to Bruce for a solution. Of course, in typical grump-with-a-heart-of-gold fashion, he finds a way to put things right. As in previous entries, Higgins’ signature illustrations, with their deft use of line and shading, are a delight. Young readers will enjoy the antics of the expressive mice and geese, and adults will recognize (and sympathize with) Bruce’s tireless schlepping and entertaining.

Hilarious proof that a caregiver’s work is never done. (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews