Need an excuse to go to the beach? If the answer is yes, this is a perfect time to grab a picnic basket and a beach blanket because Play in the Sand Day is taking place this month. A beach outing offers multiple benefits. Searching for seashells by the seashore keeps the mind sharp and eyes focused; walking the beach improves the body; building sandcastles encourages creativity; and putting your toes in the sand exfoliates the skin. Hooray!
Of course, you don’t have to go to the beach to play in the sand – a local park or a backyard sandbox will do. My big brother built a sandbox for me when I was little, and oh boy, I loved it! There is a photo of me sitting in the middle of the box, cheerfully dirty, and apparently curious about the flavor of sand. Playing in sand, good. Eating sand, bad.
To get ready for a beach trip (or in place of one, in case beach travel is not in your future), I recommend beach reads…about real beaches. I’ve also included a cookbook for picnic fare, an ode to the razor clam, and the fascinating history and science of sand. How often do you get to read about clams and sand? They go together like fish and chips.
- Beaches by Gray Malin
- How to Beach: The Professional Beachgoer’s Guidebook by Tim Rayborn
- Max’s Picnic Book: An Ode to the Art of Eating Outdoors by Max Halley and Benjamin Benton
- Northwest Know-How: Beaches written by Rena Priest, illustrated by Jake Stoumbos
- Razor Clams: Buried Treasure of the Pacific Northwest by David Berger
- The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How it Transformed Civilization by Vince Beiser
New at the Library
Fiction
- My Parents’ Marriage by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
- One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day
- The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Nonfiction
- Complete Starter Guide to Bonsai: Growing from Seed or Seedling – Wiring, Pruning, Care, and Display by David Squire
- Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida by Mikita Brottman
- This is Why You Dream: What Your Sleeping Brain Reveals About Your Waking Life by Rahul Jandial
Children
- Dream Submarine written by Charlotte Gunnufson, illustrated by Cleonique Hilsaca
- A Rainforest Story: The Animals of the Amazon written by Jane Burnard, illustrated by Kendra Binney
- Welcome to the Woofmore written by Donna Gephart and Lori Haskins Houran, illustrated by Josh Cleland
This is just a small sampling of the many new titles added each week to the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District collection. Visit the district’s 15 locations, our website at www.fvrl.org, or call (360) 906-5000 to reserve titles or find additional listings.
You can email Jan at readingforfun@fvrl.org.
