A fun-filled tale of summertime, teamwork, and the balance between having fun and buckling down, from Twins creator Mike Ciccotello! Summer is winding down and school is just around the corner when two old rivals meet at the beach. Shovel thinks Ruler is a number-obsessed know-it-all. Ruler thinks Shovel is all play and no work. So when their two gangs challenge one another to a beachfront competition, the contest between beach toys and school supplies gets heated. Who will win? Who will have more fun? And will they be able to step up to help each other when unexpected disaster sweeps in? This fresh take on the end-of-summer blues is bright, dynamic, and laugh-out-loud funny! K-Gr 2-When Shovel and Ruler challenge each other to a sandcastle-building contest, it's a showdown between the fun-loving beach toys and the hardworking school supplies. The beach toys know what to do and how to enjoy doing it, and when time's up, they review their entry with cheerful optimism...until they spot the magnificent "castle of classrooms" Ruler and his pals have constructed. But the school supplies' overconfidence has led them to neglect Rule #1: Don't build too close to the water. As the tide rolls in, the beach toys make a difficult decision: they give their rivals some pro tips, and everyone works together to save the sand school. Bright, primary- and secondary-colored characters with heavy outlines feel exactly right in this tale of putting aside differences in order to get more done and have fun. The illustrations are as humorous as the pun-filled text, and readers will giggle at the specifics of how each object is personified. For example, a tipped-over wheeled backpack with its front panel rolled back is the vehicle in which the school supplies arrive. Ciccotello cleverly emphasizes the beach toys' play-all-day natures by setting some of their scenes against the distant silhouette of an amusement park. Lightly couched as summer fun versus school-year industriousness, the ending suggests that something in between the two is best. VERDICT This book is loads of fun in the "x versus y" genre and a great selection for back-to-school displays.-Rachel Owens, O'Neal Library, Birmingham, ALα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. 2023 Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award Winner “Everyone wins in Ciccotello’s tale, in which an impending crisis inspires cooperation and leads to friendship. Kids who enjoy wordplay will relish the many puns and wisecracks within the text . . . Capturing the conflict’s drama as well as its happy resolution, the colorful illustrations create a breezy day-at-the-beach vibe. Fun for reading aloud.” ― Booklist “ Bright art in pencil and crayon textures details the competition as the two witty crews join forces for what becomes a (slightly begrudging) celebration of individual style, and a fun enterprise all around.” ― Publishers Weekly “Loads of fun . . . a great selection for back-to-school displays.” ― School Library Journal “The silly seaside story, with its jaunty cartoon art, will help readers recall the joys of summer well into the fall.” ― Horn Book Mike Ciccotello is the author-illustrator of Twins , Beach Toys vs. School Supplies (a Bill Martin, Jr., Picture Book Award Winner), Leonard Builds a Haunted House , and Leonard Grows a Haunted Garden . He lives with his family in New Jersey.