In the Waves

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Grab your ol' flip-flops and your sunblock, too, for this fun-in-the-sun story told to the tune of the debut original song by Lennon and Maisy Stella, stars of the hit ABC show Nashville.

Head to www.harpercollinschildrens.com/inthewaves to listen and sing along as the girls gather their boogie boards and sip homemade lemonade.

With a sweet surprise ending, this story will delight readers young and old, and with photos of the girls from years past, this picture book keepsake is the perfect present for any Lennon and Maisy fan.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

The Stella sisters, who have been riding a popularity wave via their YouTube music videos and their roles on the TV series Nashville, bring the lyrics of their first original song to picture book form. In appropriately sunny mixed-media illustrations, Björkman (Dirt on My Shirt) shows the girls gearing up for a trip to the beach as their mother hurries them along from her desk. Their idea of sisterly fun is encapsulated in the song's refrain, "In the waves, in the water/ In the waves, in the water/ Just use your imagination/ You can have a dream vacation" and in scenes of a day spent splashing with fish and building sandcastles. The full meaning of that refrain comes through in the final pages, where it's revealed that the girls are actually playing around in "the bubbly-wubbly bubble bath." Light, lively fun for the authors' fans, who can enjoy included photos of the Stellas and their family, as well as listen to the song online. Ages 4-8. Authors' agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

Warm, loose-lined ink and watercolor illustrations accompany the teen sisters' original song about fun at the beach. It works better as a song, but plenty of sisterly affection shines through text and images. The funny ending is both a surprise and perfectly in keeping with the chorus: "Just use your imagination / You can have a dream vacation / In the waves, in the water. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Frothy fun from the Stella sisters, musicians and child stars of the TV series Nashville.Sans music, the text doesn't read any better than pop-song lyrics usually do: "Mom says, hurry, hurry come on / What could possibly be taking so long? // We say, Mama, we're almost done / Getting all ready for some sister fun // In the waves, in the water / In the waves, in the water." Bjrkman cranks the energy up, though, by portraying the recognizably drawn sibs exuberantly racing across a golden beach and diving into shallow waters positively crammed with brightly colored sea life and glittering treasure. Then, with a climactic view of a tub overflowing with suds, toys and a pair of hyped-up girls, comes the revelation that the beach was an imaginary one, the product of "two sisters who pretend a lot." The song is available for an online listen on the publisher's site. A photo album of the sisters on stage and elsewhere caps this souvenir of their first original release. As celebrity-authored books go, it could be worse. (Picture book. 5-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.