Beachy and Me

by Bob Staake

Overview

Bob Staake’s tale of a whale of a friendship!
 
Something big had come ashore. It seemed to have a tail.
Pixie now was staring at . . . a giant washed-up whale!
 
Pixie Picklespeare lives on a tiny island where there’s no one to play with . . . until a friendly whale washes ashore. With Pixie’s help (sort of), Beachy is soon back in the water, where the two play marvelous games. However, Beachy knows he must migrate to be with other whales. As he disappears into the deep, Pixie feels that she’s lost her dear friend forever. But when he returns months later, Pixie learns that at special times of the year, she and Beachy will be together again!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375981876
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	52 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

BOB STAAKE is the creator of more than 50 books for children, including My Pet Book; Bluebird; The Red Lemon, a 2006 New York Times Best Illustrated Book; and The Donut Chef, a Children’s Choice Book Awards finalist. He’s also a prolific and highly acclaimed commercial illustrator whose work has appeared in the New Yorker, Time, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. Find out more about Bob at bobstaake.com.

Editorial Reviews

…Staake…serves up easy rhymes and bright digital art like a custard cone with rainbow sprinkles, and a sunny final twist…

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

02/22/2016
Alone in her island lighthouse, Pixie Picklespeare is bored—but not for long. A whale gets stranded on her beach, and now she has a new problem: “She pushed the whale/ She heaved and shoved./ He just had too much blubber!” Staake (My Pet Book) plays up the contrast between the enormous midnight-blue whale (“Hello—my name is Beachy!”) and tiny Pixie, whose tongue lolls out from the exhaustion of trying to free her new friend. Yet the two share the same wide-eyed glee in a characteristically Staake salute to mid-20th-century cartoon art. High tide frees Beachy, and the two enjoy deep-ocean fun in a series of spreads, diving, leaping, and tumbling as Pixie rides on Beachy’s back and follows him under the waves. She’s heartbroken when he migrates (“Beachy listened to his heart./ It told him ‘Time to sail!’ ”), but he returns after a few pages. Staake’s adventure offers eye-popping color, a wealth of sea life, and the entrancing vision of a companion who appears intimidating but is actually as devoted as a puppy. Ages 3–7. Agent: Gillian MacKenzie, Gillian MacKenzie Agency. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly, February 22, 2016:
"A characteristically Staake salute to mid-20th-century cartoon art . . . Staake's adventure offers eye-popping color, a wealth of sea life, and the entrancing vision of a companion who appears intimidating but is actually as devoted as a puppy."

Booklist, April 1, 2016:
"Staake's signature digital illustrations boast a summery array of colors . . . As the rhyming text bounces evenly along, young readers will be swept away by this whale of a friendship tale."

From the Publisher

04/01/2016
PreS-Gr 1—In a tall lighthouse, in a big ocean, small-island dweller Pixie Picklespeare (the "only kid who's here!") is BORED. Enter the very large, very blue Beachy the whale, who's washed ashore and needs her help. After many tries, Pixie's "ker-splash" at a timely high tide sends both water lovers into the sea to learn and play together in a summer of ocean exploration. From wave crest to sea caves, the pair flips and flops throughout the rhyming text and a handy grid map of the environs of Pixie's Island, including a compass rose, a reef, a kelp forest, a local shipwreck, a geological sea chimney, and the whales' migratory route. This is a tale of friendship lost and regained, as whales must migrate. Contrasting font sizes and generous spreads highlight the behemoth's friendly grin as Beachy's quickly identifiable blue cartoon shape again returns to fill the page. VERDICT This "true-blue friend" tale is a general purchase recommendation for all libraries, especially those on the coasts.—Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

School Library Journal

2016-02-02
In rhyming text, the diminutive, blonde, pink-faced Pixie Picklespeare befriends a whale named Beachy. The book begins with a colorful, gently humorous, double-page map of tiny Pixie's Island "and surrounding ocean environs." The layout and the retro art are reminiscent of the board game Candyland—especially at Great Candy Cane Coral Reef. The charm ends there. Pages of garish cartoons and vacuous verse tell the tale of Pixie's boredom, all alone inside her lighthouse, until a loud burp leads her outside. The blue creature who has been beached on her island says, "Oh dear, this must look rather odd— / quite anything but peachy. / Apparently, I've washed ashore. / Hello—my name is Beachy!" There follows a simultaneous succession of 10 similar images of Pixie trying to push the behemoth back into the sea, which does not work. The tide conveniently rescues Beachy, who promises to be Pixie's "ocean playtime guide." The two cavort through the ocean during the summer, becoming "a wet 'n' wild odd couple!" (Exclamation points are intrusively frequent.) Then Beachy admits the hard news to Pixie that he must migrate to be with other whales. Pixie is back to moping inside her lighthouse. Will he return next summer? A few more pages of singsong rhymes and less-than-inspired art lead to the expected conclusion. A child as bored as Pixie may read this once. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews