FLIP-FLOPS

The premise is a bit of a stretch, but Cote’s book about the creative potential inherent in even the most unpromising article—in this case a single flip-flop’speaks for wide applications. Penny, bound to the beach with her mother, can only locate one of her flip-flop sandals (a.k.a. thongs) and hops to the car. At the beach, Penny finds uses for the flip-flop, among them a fan, scoop, crab-catcher, sand-writer. Throughout the day, she finds friends and loses them, but in the end makes contact with a pal who scratches her home phone number on the flip-flop. The point is well taken: To everything there is a season, and all it takes is fertile imagination to let the possibilities curl toward the light. Appealing beach scenes in sunny colors take the lightweight concept as far as it can go, but amiably. (Picture book. 5-8)