This is a cute chapter book for those kiddos just venturing into harder reading. A good story line for both boys and girls. We enjoyed reading it together.

This is a great beginner chapter book for emerging readers. I love Lourdes Heuer's Esme series (Esme's Birthday Conga Line, Troop Esme), and find these to be the next step for ready readers. The stories were short and enjoyable with the beach for the backdrop and catalyst for many of the adventures. I recommend this for beginning chapter book readers.

Seashell Key is a place where children go to explore their various talents and abilities. It’s the perfect read for the little people in your life.

The first book in the Seashell Key series by Lourdes Heuer is a good first step into chapter books for new readers. The setting is on a tropical island. Children from three different families are introduced and the reader sees how they spend their day. At the end, all the children come together for a bit of fun and food. The chapters are very short and the story line is simple. A new reader who is ready for chapters should be able to navigate this book without too much trouble, building their confidence to continue with chapter books.

I'm very divided on this book - I understand the desire to use small digestible sentences for early readers but the structure of this book is so awkward. There is no flow at all in the text which makes it feel stilted, and actually makes following parts of the story and keeping track of who is speaking really difficult. I liked the idea of the book but thought the execution was lacking. However, it will probably make a very good book for practicing the most basic, sentence-by-sentence reading. I just don't think it will be very engaging for the reader.

This book is a cute little set of stories for younger children, I’d recommend preschool to Year 2. Each Act (part) has main characters that live around Seashell Key and then come together for the final Act all together.

The artwork in this copy was lovely, I hope the author keeps this similar in the final copy.

I requested this book because of the comparisons to Princess in Black, which is much loved at my house. It shares the same whimsical take on life, providing subtle life lessons without taking itself too seriously.

Divided into parts, each of which is a few chapters long, this first book in the projected series introduces all of our characters—six children, a dog, and a turtle. Parents and other adults are peripheral to the action, but not nonexistent.

In this book, it is the first day of the summer tourist season at Seashell Key, and the children are having adventures. Some are creating their own businesses. Others are just enjoying their beautiful seaside town. These are actual children, full of imagination, not over-precocious caricatures.

While my ARC was not yet fully illustrated, there were enough illustrations to see that they are vibrant, active and colorful.

This would be a fun book to bring along on your own beach trip with a child.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for my opinion.

This book is also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2024/04/whos-ready-for-day-at-beach.html

The first in a new series for emerging readers ready to move from traditional reader books. The characters just didn't engage me that much. Not that readers like this are great literary offerings, but not sure this has enough appeal to get kids excited about more adventure with the targeted audience.

Seashell Key, by Lourdes Heuer, is a cute beginning reader. An island setting, with fun foods and animals, makes things interesting and the repetitive words and phrases support beginning reader success in this first of a series chapter book. The book I am reviewing is an ARC, and the illustrations are not completed. The preliminary illustrations that I did see looked to add interest and hints to the wording on the pages.
Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

Such a fun start to a perfect early reader series. This first book is a great introduction to the characters and the beautiful setting, Seashell Key. The diverse cast of characters will be relatable to many, and the tropical location will be a dream. In fact, I want to spend a week there myself!
I feel like this new series will be a hit with emerging readers and get them excited about being able to read chapter books! I can't wait to read about their next adventure.