Review Detail

In Changing Tides, Theo and his mother have just become a part of Lula’s family, but she isn’t sure about this change. Theo and his mother go on vacation with their new family, and Theo and Lula build a sandcastle, learning to trust each other while working together. Unfortunately things don’t go as planned when they build the sandcastle. Will their relationship be able to recover?

What I Liked: This book opens by introducing you to the characters and showing you that this is a blending of a family. You learn about Lula’s apprehension about a big brother since she has never had one of those. Throughout the book, you see moments in which Theo is playing with Lula and gives her new ideas to make her castle bigger and better, there are also moments in which he comforts her because things don’t go exactly as planned.

The illustrations in this book are soft yet realistic, they add character to the story and bring out the distinct features of each of the characters. This book transports you to a day at the beach with Lula and her family as they enjoy the scenery together. There’s a moment in which Lula learns how to trust her new brother and how comforting it can be to have someone older to help you with new ideas for playing.

Final Verdict: Changing Tides is a cute and fun story about blending families and how to adapt to changes. Children ages 3 and up will enjoy taking a trip to the beach and building sandcastles along with Theo and Lula.