At the Beach

Xiao Ming and his mother are spending a summer day at the beach, and the sand is the perfect place to draw characters for words such as "sand" and "water." Xiao Ming's mother helps him see the picture within each character — a trick sure to appeal to readers new to the Chinese written language. The colorful, intricate illustrations, created by cut-paper collages, will fascinate young children. This book is one of a four-part series by the author about Chinese characters related to the different seasons.