About the Holiday

Love seafood? Me too! This month seafood takes center stage as a delicious, healthy, and versatile dietary choice. With so many types of seafood—each with its own distinct flavor—it’s easy to create dishes that satisfy every taste. Seafood has played a part in cuisine around the world since earliest history. Why not explore some recipes from other cultures while you celebrate this month?

There Might Be Lobsters

Written by Carolyn Crimi | Illustrated by Laurel Molk

Suki may have liked going to the beach, but there were many things there that scared her. Eleanor encouraged her puppy to come down the stairs and join her on the sand, but Suki sat at the top overwhelmed with doubt. She was such a small dog, “and the stairs were big and sandy, and she hadn’t had lunch yet, and she might get a shell stuck up her nose.” She might even “tumble down on her head…and need stitches, and, besides, there might be lobsters.”

Image copyright Laurel Molk, 2017, text copyright Carolyn Crimi, 2017. Courtesy of Candlewick Press.

Suki thought she’d sit with her toy monkey Chunka Munka and watch, but Eleanor was there to pick her up and carry her down the steps. Eleanor wanted to play and tossed her beach ball in Suki’s direction. The big ball bounced and rolled toward Suki, and Suki took off. What if the ball “hit her nose,” or “knocked her down?” If that happened she might never get home and might have to “eat seaweed to survive.” Besides, didn’t “beach balls attract lobsters?” Suki grabbed Chunka Munka and ran away.

Image copyright Laurel Molk, 2017, text copyright Carolyn Crimi, 2017. Courtesy of Candlewick Press.

Eleanor scooped her dog up again and brought her to the water’s edge. She was sure Suki would enjoy swimming with her. But Suki gazed out at the vast sea and the approaching waves that “might toss her out to the middle of the sea” where she could “float all the way to Tasmania or even Florida.” She could be “swallowed by a whale,” and besides isn’t that where lobsters live? So Suki and Chunka Munka chose to stay on shore.

Image copyright Laurel Molk, 2017, text copyright Carolyn Crimi, 2017. Courtesy of Candlewick Press.

Suddenly, a wave picked up Chunka Munka and the little monkey was washed out to sea. Soon he began to sink. “Suki started to paddle.” She swam past a beach ball, into a wave, and maybe even over a lobster to save Chunka Monka. When they landed once more on dry land, Suki felt brave and proud. Eleanor was proud of her puppy too. She picked up Suki and Chunka Monka “with a ‘yay’ and a ‘hooray’ and swung them gently through the air.” Then Suki sat on the beach, enjoyed the waves, and “watched for lobsters. And they didn’t see one all day.”

Image copyright Laurel Molk, 2017, text copyright Carolyn Crimi, 2017. Courtesy of Candlewick Press.

When fears and doubts have kids in their claws, Carolyn Crimi’s reassuring story of a little dog who does a big deed is just the kind of support they need. It can be easy for scary thoughts to overwhelm reality, but through Suki’s worries and Eleanor’s patient encouragement, Crimi gives readers a chance to empathize with the little puppy while recognizing that some fears are unfounded. Suki’s unselfish act to save her beloved toy may spur children to dip their toe into the waters and become brave themselves.

Image copyright Laurel Molk, 2017, text copyright Carolyn Crimi, 2017. Courtesy of Candlewick Press.

Laurel Molk’s adorable Suki will have readers rooting for her as she sits forlorn and hesitant at the top of the stairs, cowers from the beach ball, and stops short at the water’s edge. When Chunka Monka floats away, Molk immediately shows Suki in the ocean swimming to catch him, demonstrating that the natural instinct to help often overrides fears and leads to self-confidence and growth. Molk’s watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations are as bright, wide-open, and inviting as the beach itself. Each page offers readers lots to see, giggle over, and talk about while they cheer on Suki—and discover the only lobster on the beach.

Ages 3 – 7

Candlewick, 2017 | ISBN 978-0763675424

To find out more about Carolyn Crimi and her other books, and have a laugh or two (or three), check out her website.

View a gallery of books illustrated by Laurel Molk as well as other artwork, visit her website.

National Seafood Month Activity

What a Catch! Word Search Puzzle

There are so many types of seafood! Can you find the twenty names of fish and shellfish in this printable What a Catch! Word Search Puzzle? Here’s the Solution.

Picture Book Review