Down Under the Pier

by Nell Cross Beckerman, Rachell Sumpter (Illustrator)

Overview

There’s lots of fun to be had up on the beach pier, but it’s down underneath where the true—and totally free—magic happens

There’s lots of fun to be had up on the pier—the Ferris wheel, the rollercoaster, Skee-Ball and Whac-A-Mole, cotton candy, copper coins, the carousel. But it’s down under the pier, at low tide, where the real magic can be found. The best part? It’s free. Nell Beckerman’s poetic text and deep love of the intertidal zone, and Rachell Sumpter’s dreamy, “endless summer” art make this the perfect beach book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647002206
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	05/12/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

Nell Cross Beckerman writes picture books inspired by the magic of nature and the human spirit. She has produced, written, and directed shows for VH1, MTV, MSNBC, and the Discovery Channel. She lives in Venice Beach with her husband and two daughters. Rachell Sumpter is a painter and illustrator whose work has been featured in the New York Times, McSweeney’s, the Boston Globe, and O Magazine. She also is an art professor, shows her work in galleries, teaches workshops at museums, and enjoys reading, observing nature, and spending time with her partner and their two children. She lives in Seattle. This is her first children’s book.

Editorial Reviews

"This colorful celebration of nature’s wonders and children’s curiosity showcases the beauty of the outdoors, and its sight words and easy-to-understand language make it ideal for newly independent readers."

Booklist

"A dreamy tribute to summer days—and sea life and the spaces in-between."—Kirkus

"This colorful celebration of nature’s wonders and children’s curiosity showcases the beauty of the outdoors, and its sight words and easy-to-understand language make it ideal for newly independent readers." —Booklist

From the Publisher

2020-02-09
Four friends revel in the sea riches secluded down under the pier.

Racing from Ferris wheel to carousel, Skee-Ball to whack-a-mole, the children exhaust all of the greatest pleasures on offer “up on the pier.” But when the rides are done and their money’s gone, they go below the pier, where “Fun is free, and the world is ours.” Sumpter’s cotton-candy–colored illustrations, paint and pastels on brown paper, deftly capture the bright lights of the pier above and then, the deeper, dazzling beauty of the creatures hiding below. Beckerman’s lightly repetitive, sometimes rhyming text imbues the narrative with a gentle surge and pull (“They don’t know what we know— / To slip down the stairs when the tide is low”), breaking in small moments of wonder and discovery. The four friends—two of whom appear to be white, a brown-skinned boy with tightly coiled brown hair, and a brown-skinned girl with straight black hair—trawl the pier’s underbelly unaccompanied by adults. They are young enough to find wonder in all of its treasures and just old enough to be allowed to wander off alone. The book concludes with a simple, engaging illustrated guide to some of the sea creatures that can be found in the intertidal zone.

A dreamy tribute to summer days—and sea life and the spaces in-between. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews