How to Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It’s the last day of summer vacation and Pearl’s very last chance to try and successfully build a sandcastle. Troubles of all kinds have thwarted her plans and have caused every attempt to flop. Pearl isn’t the sort to give up though, she is an inventive problem solver. She brainstorms an idea that involves her trusty robot, Pascal who can only understand her commands through code. Through a series of instructions, Pearl gets to enjoy a summer sandcastle at last with a moat to boot. Go Pearl, Go!
How to Code a Sandcastle is a Girls Who Code Book that includes a foreword by the organization’s founder, Reshma Saujani, encouraging exposure and early access to coding. Josh Funk brilliantly weaves code into the story and introduces the reader to the basic concepts of sequences and loops. I like Sara Palacios combination of full-page illustrations and panels, they are fun and colorful; They do a great job of helping the reader understand the sequences and loops, and takes you straight to the beach. At the end of the school year, that’s the place to be. I will definitely add this book to my end of the school year, it’s almost summer reads alongside Kwame Alexander’s Surfs Up and Aaron Reynolds, Dude!
I can say with complete confidence that I will love any book that Josh Funk writes for our children to enjoy. When I consider this school year alone, in my K-5 library, I have read It’s Not Jack & The Beanstalk (which happens to be the first Josh Funk Book I read to my kiddos), Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast, The Case of the Stinky Stench, and Pirasaurs. We also were a lucky bunch because we got to Google Hangout with Josh Funk on WRAD (World Read Aloud Day) when he read his book Lost in the Library (releases August 2018) to my kindergarten students!
Any book of his that we don’t yet own, you can be assured is on my book order for next school year. His books are fun, imaginative, and cleverly creative with a mystery-solving breakfast team (Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast), a pint-sized pirasaur (ya know a pirate dinosaur) trying to roll with the big dinos, an unruly main character (Jack) who wants to complicate the narrator’s story, giving the reader a chance to experience Jack & the Bean Stalk like never before! Can you tell I’m a fan? Any author who can get my students this fired up about reading is worth being excited about!
If you’ve never read a Josh Funk book before, start here with How to Code a Sandcastle and then read all of his other great books too! Check out his website to watch book trailers, access free bookish activities and so much more: https://www.joshfunkbooks.com/
How to Code a Sandcastle
Josh Funk
Shout-Outs
Josh Funk | https://www.joshfunkbooks.com/
Penguin Young Readers
penguin.com/youngreaders
Book Excursion | PLN Group of Rockstar Reading Educators| #BookExcursion
CeCeLibrarian’s Book Blog 
One comment