Billie and Bean at the Beach (Billie and Bean #1)

Black pup Bean offers support to reluctant swimmer Billie, portrayed with light brown skin, in this enigmatic narrative about a child’s ups and downs during a day at the beach. Opening lines set the tone: while “Billie doesn’t want to be here” and rests in the shade, “Bean loves the beach!” Mom “thinks Billie should go for a swim too,” but a near-immediate jellyfish sting causes the child to wish she hadn’t tried. Luckily, Bean’s discovery of a sand-buried snorkel mask nudges Billie to try again, and the payoff—ineffable views of “an underwater garden full of shells and stones and all sorts of creatures”—give readers a wonderful Billie’s-eye view of the calm underwater surrounds. Infused with purples and peaches, Hansson’s luminous pencil and watercolor art aptly uses perspective, light, shadow, and the round-bodied protagonists’ positions to embrace the book’s quiet tone. Ages 6–8. (Feb.)