Claude at the Beach by Alex T. Smith (review)

When Mr. and Mrs. Shinyshoes go off to work, their dog Claude decides it’s time for a vacation and heads to the beach with his best pal, Sir Bobblysock (a sock), and a suitcase full of “all sorts of useful and interesting things.” At the beach, Claude uses a pair of Mr. Shinyshoes’ underpants for a swimsuit (adapted with sticky tape for the diminutive Claude) and spends his time there rescuing a swimmer from a shark (Claude offers the shark a bone baguette instead), building sandcastles with Sir Bobblysock, and setting sail with some pirates to look for treasure. The treasure’s fearsome owner, pirate captain Naughty Nora, is loath to part with it, though, until she spies Claude’s suitcase and its cargo; a trade is made and Claude and Sir Bobblysock return home with a goodly portion of the booty. Smith’s brief text is printed in an approachably large type, though the occasional challenging vocabulary (e.g. “baguette,” “utterly perplexed”) might stretch the abilities of some early readers. There’s a pleasant, cozy humor to the escapades, but the events are so randomly silly and the solutions to problems so overly convenient that the resulting narrative feels more piecemeal than satisfying. Still, Smith’s digitally created art—done in grays, black, and white, with pink and red highlights—has a similarly wacky feel with slightly exaggerated figures and humorous details, such as Sir Bobblysock’s vintage-looking wing-tipped sunglasses. Kids will be particularly tickled by Claude’s polka-dotted underpants/swimsuit, and those who enjoy this title may want to back up and read Claude’s previous two adventures as well.