Surf's Up

"You'd rather read a book than go to the beach?" A surfer frog named Dude can't believe that his fellow surfer frog Bro is sticking with a "boring" book instead of hanging 10. But after hearing Bro's running commentary on the book's Moby-Dick-esque plot, Dude gets just as carried away. "Batten down the hatches!" shouts Bro, who has cast himself as Ahab in the midst of a mighty storm. "Do what to the what?" asks Dude--but he's right there on board the ship, too. Alexander, the 2015 Newbery Medalist for The Crossover, starts off at full throttle and never lets up: almost every line of this all-dialogue story ends in an exclamation point, and the liberal use of bright, all-caps typography ratchets up the emotions even higher. But the real excitement is in Miyares's (Float) wondrously rollicking drawings. Working in saturated colors and boldly graphic textures, he sends these big-eyed, freaked-out frogs hurtling (often literally) between fantasy and reality. It's a wild ride on the sea of imagination, and a rousing high-five to the power of reading. Ages 4-8. Illustrator's agency: Studio Goodwin Sturges. (Feb.)

PreS-K--Bro and Dude, two frog friends, have differing ideas about what makes for a fun day at the beach. Dude, dressed in swim trunks, surfboard in hand, is totally ready to catch some waves. Bro, meanwhile, has his head buried in a book (Moby-Dick) and wants to keep reading. Despite his claim that "books are boring," Dude finds himself increasingly interested in the story about a man looking for a whale. As the characters make their way to the seashore, Bro reads aloud and the illustrations transform to showcase the action of Melville's classic tale, cleverly substituting Bro the frog in the place of Captain Ahab. Pirate lingo ("Batten down the hatches!") and surfer slang ("Cowabunga!") enliven the story and will have young listeners giggling. Miyares's digitally created illustrations are expressive and full of energy and motion--a perfect complement to Alexander's simple yet buoyant text. VERDICT A joyful and humor-filled ode to the magic of imagination and reading.--Kiera Parrott, School Library Journal