MCBD Book Review: How To Code a Sandcastle

I am thrilled to again be joining up with Multicultural Children’s Book Day as a co-host and book reviewer. The mission of Multicultural Children’s Book Day  is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves.

Get your free 2019 mcbd_poster HERE.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day may be on 1/25/19, but we want to party all week long! Get the scoop on all the ways you can bring your #diversekidlit celebration to life. #ReadYourWorld Share on X

Moreover, MCBD works diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators year round.  This year, I am delighted to introduce you a brilliant picture book, HOW TO CODE A SANDCASTLE, by Josh Funk and Sara Palacios and published by Viking Books for Young Readers.

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this book from the publisher to facilitate this review.  As always, all opinions are my own. This post also contains affiliate links.

So excited to kick off MCBD 2019 with HOW TO CODE A SANDCASTLE by @joshfunkbooks. Check out my review and follow @MCChildsBookDay as well as #readyourworld this week for some great #giveaways! Share on X

Book Summary

In HOW TO CODE A SANDCASTLE, Pearl and her trusty rust-proof robot, Pascal, need to build a sandcastle before summer vacation is over, and they’re going to do it using code. Pearl breaks the big we-need-a-sandcastle problem into smaller steps, then uses conditionals, loops, and other basic coding concepts to tell Pascal exactly what to do.

But building a sandcastle isn’t as easy as it sounds when surfboards, mischievous dogs, and coding mishaps get in the way Just when it looks like the sandcastle might never work, Pearl uses her coding skills to save the day and create something even better: a gorgeous sandcastle kingdom.

How To Code a Sandcastle

This book is a brilliant combination of an introduction to what coding entails for young children; while being inclusive of savory nerd moments for the advanced coding audience.  You can both geek out with the engineering specifics, (including the fact that book characters Pearl and Pascal are named after programming languages), and enjoy a day on the beach reading about the innovative teamwork of a little girl and a robot making a sandcastle.

The story takes a complicated subject (for some) and through brilliant writing and illustrations, turns reading into learning without skipping a beat. Kids will feel empowered that even a relaxing day at the beach is an opportunity to learn about sequences, loops, and scripts. The end pages include a handy guide to coding for beginners.

Illustrator Sara Palacios’ illustrations complement the story exceptionally. Her use of bright colors and visual representations of the coding concepts help readers visualize the concept.

HOW TO CODE A SANDCASTLE is a great STEM learning resource for those upcoming summer months and I strongly recommend this book for classrooms, libraries, and families! For those looking for crafts and activities to complement the book with young children, click HERE.

Girls Who Code

The forward to the book is written by CEO of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani. I had the distinct honor of working on a project with Girls Who Code this past October for International Day of the Girl. My daughter Havana (The Tiny Diplomat) was selected to be on the Girls Who Code Advisory Council for the campaign.

At just 7 years old, she was able to interact with students in High School, undergrad, as well as professional coders who were Girls Who Code alum. This dynamic and diverse sisterhood from all over the world gave us insight into how having tools and role models was key in being successful in a male-dominated field.

Working with these womxn was such a valuable lesson in advocating for books like HOW TO CODE A SANDCASTLE to be on every bookshelf. Just like Pearl in the book, girls interested in coding would benefit from the Girls Who Code program to further their interests, creativity, and passion for coding.

Author Josh Funk

Author Josh Funk is a long-time supporter of Multicultural Children’s Book Day and is also a returning Author Sponsor for MCBD2019! He is also the author of HOW TO CODE A SANDCASTLE. 

Josh is an award-winning children’s book author, but he has also a software engineer for the last 20 years.

He is the perfect person to grab the attention of young readers with a witty and relatable book, while also using his expertise to teach children about the actual process of coding. Additionally, Josh Funk collaborated with renowned computer science non-profit, Girls Who Code.

Check out Josh Funk reading a portion of his book below and connect with Josh on Twitter.

Purchase HOW TO CODE A SANDCASTLE on Amazon | Shop your local indie bookstore.

Interested in getting involved for Multicultural Children’s Book Day? Read on for details about all the festivities including a Twitter party full of book giveaways!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day Music Video

Teachers, parents, authors, and kids from all over the world sent in videos and pictures of their favorite multicultural books so this year MCBD has its first ever music video!

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6^th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.

MCBD 2019 Medallion Level Sponsors 

Honorary: Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org.

Super Platinum: Make A Way Media

GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick Press, Chickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV, Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press,

SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. Roman, Author Charlotte Riggle, Huda Essa, The Pack-n-Go Girls,

BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift, T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield,

MCBD 2019 Author Sponsors 

Honorary: Julie Flett, Mehrdokht Amini,

Author Janet Balletta, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Josh Funk, Chitra Soundar, One Globe Kids – Friendship Stories, Sociosights Press and Almost a Minyan, Karen Leggett, Author Eugenia Chu, CultureGroove Books, Phelicia Lang and Me On The Page, L.L. Walters, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Hayley Barrett, Sonia Panigrah, Author Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing Dreidels, Author Susan Bernardo, Milind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu Kid, Tara Williams, Veronica Appleton, Author Crystal Bowe, Dr. Claudia May, Author/Illustrator Aram Kim, Author Sandra L. Richards, Erin Dealey, Author Sanya Whittaker Gragg, Author Elsa Takaoka, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo, Anita Badhwar, Author Sylvia Liu, Feyi Fay Adventures, Author Ann Morris, Author Jacqueline Jules, CeCe & Roxy Books, Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, LEUYEN PHAM, Padma Venkatraman, Patricia Newman and Lightswitch Learning, Shoumi Sen, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci Sorell, Shereen Rahming, Blythe Stanfel, Christina Matula, Julie Rubini, Paula Chase, Erin Twamley, Afsaneh Moradian, Claudia Schwam, Lori DeMonia, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC

Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event.

A Crafty Arab, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Biracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Descendant of Poseidon Reads, Educators Spin on it, Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin Lee, Jump Into a Book, Imagination Soup, Jenny Ward’s Class, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Raising Race Conscious Children, Shoumi Sen, Spanish Playground

TWITTER PARTY {Sponsored by Make A Way Media}

MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/25/19 at 9:00pm.E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party. CLICK HERE for more details.

Join us for MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party on 1/25/19 at 9:00pm E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party. #readyourworld Share on X

FREE RESOURCES From MCBD

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers

Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians, and Educators

Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.