Ballyhoo Bay
PreSchool-Grade 2—Mirra Bella, who teaches art on Ballyhoo Beach to children and grannies, as well as pelicans, otters, seals and crabs, seagulls and squids, is stunned one day when a signpost appears announcing that the beach will be closed-a developer plans to build penthouse apartments and a casino. Mirra Bella draws up a plan to leave the beach as it is for all to enjoy and presents it to the town council. Her idea is overwhelmingly adopted, and the recycled-art fair takes place the next day as planned. Lively, humorous acrylic cartoons have a buoyancy that captures the sparkle of the seaside setting and the exaggerated antics of the characters. This upbeat ecological message is delivered with plenty of panache. Told in rhyming couplets, the story reads aloud well.—Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.