Grains of Sand

by Sibylle Delacroix

Overview

On the last day of a family vacation, a little girl is as blue as the sea, and her shoes are filled with sand. What should she do with all of this sand? Together, she and her brother decide to plant the grains of sand, and imagine what will grow. A field of beach umbrellas, to wave hello to the sun? Or a forest of windmills, to fill the sails of a boat? Before drifting off to sleep, the girl has her dad promise they’ll go back for new grains of sand next year.



Spare text will prompt readers to wonder and imagine their own possibilities, while illustrations in a palette of yellows and grays convey the sun-soaked joy and the lingering nostalgia of family vacations well remembered.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771472050
Publisher:	Owlkids Books
Publication date:	04/15/2018
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	745,775
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

SIBYLLE DELACROIX is the author/illustrator of Prickly Jenny and Blanche Hates the Night. She graduated from the ERG (Ecole de recherche graphique) in Brussels and worked by day as a graphic designer in several agencies while illustrating at night. She lives in the Midi-Pyrenees in France, where she now tries to draw in the day and sleep at night!

Editorial Reviews

"The power of a child’s imagination permeates this simple story of the gifts that remain even after a vacation is over."

Booklist - STARRED REVIEW

Kids will want to have it read on numerous evenings before bed, and you won't mind at all.

Sa&lgrave;s Fiction Addiction

04/01/2018
PreS-K—Wanting a wonderful vacation to never end is a sentiment that many children can relate to. When the family in Delacroix's latest return home from their beach trip, the two young kids find a way to make the vacation last a bit longer. The little girl finds sand in her shoes and she, along with her toddler brother, decide to plant the grains of sand. The siblings imagine fanciful, beach-related objects growing in their garden. The mostly monochromatic illustrations effectively create a magical world full of yellow beach umbrellas, a forest of pinwheels, and a crop of ice cream. Ending with a sweet promise of a trip next year, both children fall asleep peacefully. VERDICT This is a delicate bedtime story in which young readers will find comfort. Perfect for seasonal sharing one-on-one or with a small group.—Susan Small, Salve Regina University Library, Newport, RI

School Library Journal

★ 2018-01-22
When a family vacation ends, sometimes that's when imagination begins. How else does one manage the loss of ocean breezes and sand between the toes?A calm palette of yellows, browns, and grays with touches of blue allows readers to experience the post-holiday disappointment of a young girl and her younger brother in a quiet, gentle way. Rather than offering loud screaming colors and mouths drawn like gaping maws of displeasure, Delacroix shows readers a quieter examination, turning frustration into whimsy. When the girl discovers that she has come home from their summer vacation at the beach with a shoe full of sand, she begins pouring it onto the ground. Her brother asks what she is doing, and she answers: "I have all these grains of sand, and I don't want to throw them away… I know! Let's plant them!" The two then embark on an adventure, picturing the harvest of their beach sand as bright yellow beach umbrellas or a field filled with ice cream cones, lemon flavored—if you please. Words are delivered as spare accompaniment to the beautiful, lush, almost tactile artwork. Expressions of sadness soon turn joyous with each imagined scenario. The siblings are both pale-skinned, the girl with a straight, black pageboy and the boy with a blond mop.Delacroix's idyll allows young readers to discover new, exciting surprises in the pictures again and again upon second, third, and 33rd readings—as captivating as an ocean breeze and soothing as a hug. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews

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