Wonderful book that looks at the creative process and helps young children learn to follow their vision - art goes well with the story.

A delight! This beach-themed book perfectly captures what it's like to be an introvert/loner and engrossed in your own creativity. Stop bugging us, folks...we know what we're doing, even when we don't until it's finished. :)

Finally, a picture book for introverted kids that lets them know it's TOTALLY FINE TO BE INTROVERTED. Poor Jamie's just trying to do her own thing at the beach and people keep bugging her to ask her what she's up to. A woman comes to paint next to her and finally Jamie gets some understanding. I love this book more and more every time I read it.

Charming artwork and short but packed interchanges resound with the creator's lament: Leave me alone and let me create.

The quiet of this book quickly drew me in. A young girl is on a beach and clearly in the midst of creating using objects she finds around her. She loves the sea that doesn't bother her asking questions, gently swishing as she hums and creates. As she is busy constructing and building, people of various ethnicities stroll by curious and ask her what she is making. She always answers "I don't know" somewhat annoyed as she is still unsure herself. Soon a woman painter comes with stand, brushes and

When standing on the shore at the edge of an ocean, a sea or Lake Michigan, looking to your left and to your right, the sand stretches as far as the eye can see. This sand has been sculpted endlessly by the waves. It awaits eager hands armed with buckets, shovels, found objects and ideas.For hours, days and sometimes weeks all a solitary soul needs are the water and the sand. Hum and Swish (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House, June 11, 2019) written and illustrated by Matt Myers requests our presen...

This beautiful book about a little girl playing at the beach and creating in the sand is illustrated with gorgeous, and almost realistic, acrylic and oil paintings. The text is deceptively simple, with about one sentence per page. A succession of people ask the little girl what she is making, and her answer every time is "I don't know." She is simply enjoying playing and creating with no particular goal in mind. She appreciates that the senior woman painter who arrives does not ask her what she

A beautiful, creative story

In my picture book courses, the students and I often discuss a special category of children's books: quiet books that pack a punch. Hum and Swish is one of these books. Jamie is enjoying creating art alongside her friend the sea (who doesn't ask questions, unlike the people coming and going from the beach). She is bothered by all of the persistent remarks, until she is joined by a woman who doesn't ask questions and instead enjoys creating art alongside Jamie. This book is a lovely reminder of t...

Jamie spends her time at the edge of the quiet beach near the waves. She is hard at work making something, but she isn’t sure what quite yet. People walk past and ask her pesky questions, but Jamie just wants to be alone with the swish of the waves and her own humming as she works. Then someone else comes to the edge of the water. She has a lot of things along with her and sets up an easel to paint. She starts to work, and Jamie asks her what she is making but the painter isn’t sure yet. Jamie a...

While many youngsters enjoy playing on the beach and frolicking in the waves, Jamie marches to a different beat. For her, a day on the shore provides a chance for her to create. As is the case for many artists, she isn't quite sure what she's creating, but she enjoys using the natural materials and found objects that are available. What she doesn't enjoy is all the attention from passersby and questions from those who are curious about what she's making. Those questions and observations, while w...

A young girl is creating something from the sand and flotsam of the ocean beach, but she's not sure what. Passing people, and her parents, all have questions, but the questions cannot be answered for she's in the process of creating, and she's not sure what the end result will be. At last a kindred spirit arrives in an artist who sets up an easel near the girl. Both create in peace, understanding that the artistic process cannot easily be explained. This is a sweet and thoughtful book with beaut...

Jamie is such a kindred spirit for all of us who create at the edges. The art in this book is gorgeous, the writing is clear and evocative of its setting. It is easy to empathize with this young artist, and such a joy to watch her find friendship and a like mind on the shore of the sea.

Amazing! That's 3 yrs in a row I've had the pleasure of enjoying a lovely new seaside picturebook in the world. Hum and Swish is a special story about creativity, kindred spirits & the sea w/ splendid illustrations.

A beginning book about a girl building something on the beach. All kinds of people stop and ask her about what’s she’s doing and she doesn’t know. She just keeps building and ignoring the people. She is very creative. My kids aren’t very contemplative; they would talk to anyone and the nephew won’t stop talking. I would love for them to be able to do this from time to time, but they are extroverted. I am the introvert of the family.I like the contemplative nature of the book. The girl hums and t...

Jamie's got a major construction project going on at the beach, and it seems as though everyone is stopping to pester her with questions.This is a lovely book about solitude and understanding; for some reason, it reminded me of a Pixar short. The author's artwork is so gorgeous, you can almost smell the sea air.

On a warm, breezy, sunny summer day, humming while the waves swish, Jaime begins to build something right near the ocean's edge. "What are you making there?" asks a couple walking by with a dog. "I don't know," Jaime says. As she works, more people pass her by - an older man, a lady, a little boy, two tween girls in bikinis, her dad bringing her more sunscreen, her mom bringing her a juice box - all receive the same vague answer when looking at what she is working on and asking about it. Finally...

Put it on your Caldecott shortlist.

This book is a gorgeous trip to the beach, perfect those like me who are already having summertime withdrawal. The little girl in this picture book is enjoying her time by the ocean just letting her creative juices flow - listening to the hum and swish of the water and building different pieces from sand and debris found nearby. Mostly well-meaning folks stop and ask her questions about what she's making and she's beginning to grow a bit frustrated that she can't be left alone to just enjoy the

A simple yet utterly charming book, beautifully illustrated, which shows the progress of a girl on a beach as she tries to enact her artistic vision on the shifting sands and and detritus around her. Continually disrupted by well-meaning passersby, her frustration grows..... until one very special and quite unexpected person quietly joins her. They leave each other in peace, each respecting the other’s work. Strengthened and reinforced in their silent yet implicit partnership, each makes progres...