Shells! Shells! Shells!

by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

Buddy and his mother spend a delightful day at the beach. They collect shells, and Buddy’s mother explains how they are made. She answers Buddy’s many questions about whelks, mussels, clams, and the rest of their discoveries. With her signature artwork using recycled paper, markers, crayons, actual shells, and colored pencils, Nancy Elizabeth Wallace takes a closer look at everything a child will enjoy seeing. This book is a perfect introduction to environmental science and biology, but will also be useful to all enthusiastic beachcombers. A bookmark craft activity and a page of shell facts are included. You can visit her online at www.nancyelizabethwallace.com.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Science, Nature, Childrens, Summer

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

About the author

Nancy Elizabeth Wallace attended the University of Connecticut, and majored in sociology and psychology with a minor in art history, then continued on for a master’s degree in child development.

For many years, she worked at Yale-New Haven Hospital with children and teenagers as Child Life Specialist helping children to understand what was going to happen if they needed to have a medical test or an operation or a cast.

Then she took two adult education courses, one was about traditional Scherenschnitt (share- en -sssh -nit) scherren means scissors, schnitt means cut. The other was about writing and illustrating children’s books. When she brought in a
cut-paper illustration, the teacher said, “You’ve found your medium!”

Nancy is married to Peter Banks. They have been married for more than 30 years. He is a high school Physics teacher.

They live in Branford, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been developing my shell knowledge this summer and it would have been nice to begin either this title. Although classified as a picture book there was a lot of true information in this title as well as photos of basic shells. The info covered how a mollusk makes a shell, and why some shells have a hole at the top when you find them. New info I learned was there are different colors of jingle shells, that the outer part of a whelk shell called an opercuelum can close like a door, that scallop shells have ears.m, and Gastropoda means stomach foot.
So much information in a children’s title all presented in story form by a Mama bear and her son going to the beach.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun beach book!!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly informational but perhaps a bit advanced for the target audience.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this today and absolutely loved it. A young bear and his mom go to the beach and he asks all kinds of questions about how shells are formed. His mother gives very simple yet clear explanations. We learned a TON of stuff and it was so easy for the kids to understand. There are several jokes sprinkled throughout which my kids loved.

The pictures are cute paper cut-outs but the shells are actual photographs and are very clear so you get a good feel for what they actually look like.

When we were done we grabbed our small shell collection and they immediately started sorting them into bivalve and univalve groups and talked about how gastropods live in univalve shells. They looked for indications of when the mollusk had growth spurts and for pigmentation as well. I was thrilled to see how much they'd understood and then to see them apply it.

Very highly recommended for elementary age kids. Older kids may not like the "little kid" type look. Even my 2-yr-old sat in fascination.

I'm going to look into other works by this author. Very impressed.

[Julie Graham 47150 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shells are one of the habitats the first graders in my class study. We read fictional stories about hermit crabs and non-fiction books about many kinds of animals that live in shells. In this story, a young bear named Buddy, and his mom, go to the beach. Buddy asks all kinds of questions about how shells are formed. His mother gives very simple yet clear explanations. The book is easy to understand and my students learn a LOT! When we are done reading the book, I give each student a small handful of shells and ask them to sort the shells into bivalve and univalve groups. As we sort, we talk about how gastropods live in univalve shells. They also look for indications of when the mollusk had growth spurts. It is wonderful to see how much they understand and then to see them apply it.
Wallace has written other books, using Buddy as the main character, to help young children learn about their world. "Seeds! Seeds! Seeds!" and "Rocks! Rocks! Rocks!" are two especially good ones.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An educational story told through what appear to be felt cutouts and photographs.

Little Buddy Bear is walking along the shore with his mother and their day together turns into an educational one of shells and sand and where they all come from.

This book would be excellent either for homeschooling or an in class science lesson on shells. Including photographs of the shells in addition to vocabulary words and science based information makes this book well rounded for your educational needs.

Complete with a “did you know” section and a bookmark art project to help finish your lesson on a fun note.

For a budding conchologist

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is kind of a hybrid between a picture book and a reference book, but it isn't really either one.

There is some great information about shells in here. There is a little bit of story in here. And there are some pretty terrible jokes in here. I would have cut the jokes first, embellished the story, and simplified the information given throughout the story -- it could have been added to the back as glossary of sorts.

[Tamarah Bartmess · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun book! I was definitely drawn in by the artwork and beautiful shells, but was pleasantly surprised that it taught even me things I didn't know about how shells grow, as I read aloud to my daughters.
Made me want to go to the beach and find some myself and explore them with the knowledge I gained from reading her book.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buddy and Mom spend a day at the beach, collecting shells and spending time together. Buddy likes to tell Mama jokes as they build sandcastles and collect shells.

Used for " At the Beach: Sand, Water, adn Shells" Storytime-July, 2010.

[Kathy]

Lots of good info on shells -- kinds, how they form, what they are, etc.

[Melinda Cheatham · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 4 year old loved it! Too long and detailed for the 2 year old though. Excellent for beach preparation!

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so thorough. I loved the attention to detail. The playful humor between the mom and her son was enjoyable as well. I will definitely refer to this book again.

[Brittany N · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can be used when talking about the sea and shells. It also talks about the beach.