Sorry About the Sandcastle

One photo and a name is all it takes.

Child's name

Child's photo

Read the whole book

Every page, starring our demo kid — this role goes to your child.

1
The sea sings splish-splash, splish-splash. Your Child runs up and down the warm sand hugging a big beach ball. Little footprints follow along behind, all the way down the shore.
2
A little way off, a girl has built a sandcastle. Wow — so tall, so beautiful! It has seashell windows and a tiny seaweed flag right on top, waving in the breeze.
3
Whoosh! The wind snatches the ball away! Your Child chases it, running faster and faster and faster. Eyes on the ball — only the ball — and nothing else at all!
4
CRASH! No time to stop! Your Child's foot smashes right through the castle, and the towers tumble down — plof, plof, plof. The little seaweed flag lands flat on the sand.
5
Everything goes very quiet. The girl looks at the flattened castle, then at Your Child. Slowly, slowly, her eyes fill up with tears — like two little pools of sea.
6
Your Child's face feels hot, and there is a squeezy, uncomfortable feeling in the tummy. Even the sunshine feels too bright. Hiding somewhere — anywhere at all — sounds very good right now.
7
There is a word, a very small word, stuck in Your Child's throat. It is the hardest word to say. Your Child takes a deep, brave breath. One... two... three...
8
"I'm sorry. I ran too fast and smashed your castle," says Your Child, picking up the little red shovel. "Can we fix it together?" The girl blinks — and a small smile peeks out.
9
Two little shovels dig and pat, dig and pat. Layer by layer, the new castle grows taller and taller! The pink bucket flips over — plop! — and out comes a perfect round tower.
10
The new castle is even bigger than before, with two little flags on top! High-five, slap! Saying sorry and fixing it together feels so much better than pretending nothing happened.