"They're building separate castles, neighbouring sand-forts on the shore.
But Bonnie wants a clubhouse, a grand sandcastle for all."
When you spend a day with friends, I guess it is natural to have an expectation about how the day will 'pan out'. Young Bonnie expected all the friends to work together to create the fabulous sandcastle of her imagination. Instead, each child makes their own elaborate creation, and Bonnie feels totally left out and alone. Bonnie does know some 'calming down' techniques such as counting to ten but these do not work. Her friends seem to have left her, and in her anger and frustration Bonnie stomps on her sandcastle. At this point I think I would ask the students in my library group what could happen next? In the story it is Bonnie who apologises but I wonder if the other kids might need to say sorry too? It would be good to talk about the emotions encountered in this story - words like flustered, fusses, fed up.
With a group of younger children I would pair Castle Crashing with a Bluey episode - Stick Bird Season 3, episode 41.
Bluey Stickbird: Bluey and Bingo are at Currimundi lake having a stick throwing contest. The kids are not very good at throwing, so Mum steps in and teaches them how to do it the right way. While Bluey keeps practising, Bingo snaps Dad out of his melancholic mood and they go to look for more sticks. Bingo finds a stick shaped like a bird’s head and she and Dad use it to create a beautiful sand sculpture. But while their backs are turned, Bingo’s handiwork is destroyed by some older kids! Bingo is upset and angry, until Bluey arrives and teaches Bingo how to throw her troubles away – something Dad learns too.
There are some lyrical words and phrases in this book: tilting. sagging shacks; a twisty shack spills onto the sand; Bonnie skitters seaward; sticky sunscreen smeared; as the tide tiptoes out to sea; pointed sandy spires; and the sun winks at the friends.
It’s a nicely executed lesson in self-regulation, and as many schools are incorporating strategies for this into daily classroom activities, this will be a welcome addition to any collection. Just so Stories
I went to a book launch at Gleebooks Kids for this new book Castle Crashing which was released on 28th October. I expect this book might be a 2026 CBCA Notable Early Childhood selection.
Here are the things I discovered about Andrea Rowe - as a young writer she won a competition judged by the famous Australian writer Colin Thiele - his advice 'keep practicing'; each of the books in this series focuses on a different child; Andrea loves thinking about her characters - trying to get right inside their heads; and she will have four books published (I don't think they are from this series) in 2026.
Here are the questions I would have asked if (a) I was brave enough and (b) there was an opportunity to do this:
- This is your fifth book - How did you two discover each other? Was this through your publisher?
- Andrea - as you write do you read your work aloud to yourself as a way to maintain rhythm and cadence?
- Your first three books from this series have alliterative titles - will you continue this pattern?
- The idea of focusing on one child in each book is reminiscent of Clive eats Alligators by Alison Lester - are you familiar with this book?
- I read that you work part time in a bookshop - can you talk about the importance of wide reading in your field of children's fiction and especially wide reading of picture books.
- Hannah - was Anisa's Alphabet your first book? Can you talk about how you approached this book which has very serious themes and is very different from books like Castle Crashing.
- Hannah - can you talk about some other authors you have worked with - especially our famous author Margaret Wild?
- Jetty Jumping won the CBCA Early Childhood picture book award in 2022. Can you talk about this and also perhaps explore any comments you might have received about the possible safety issues of younger children (this award is for readers aged 0-6) of jumping from a wharf or jetty.
Here are the other two books from series - Jetty Jumping, Sunday Skating and now we have Castle Crashing.
The have also created two board books (which I think you could call spin offs from the original title):
Look for these other books about sandcastles (and my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything has even more for you to enjoy):
Here is a publisher bio for Hannah Sommerville:
Hannah Sommerville is a best-selling picture book illustrator who creates enchanting watercolour, gouache and digital illustrations in her studio on the South Coast of NSW. Hannah earned a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Arts and Graphic Design) at the University of Wollongong in 2006 and began illustrating in 2010 after the arrival of her young children. Hannah is a storyteller who enjoys creating picture books that capture the imagination, tenderness and playfulness that surround children and family life. Her picture book Digby & Claude, written by Emma Allen, was selected for the CBCA 2019 Notables list.
Hannah Sommerville is an illustrator to watch. Rachel (bookseller at Gleebooks) shared that Hannah has a new book due out in 2026 which she has written and illustrated - I won't give away the story line but it does sound terrific. In March 2026 her book The Night Tiger by Sherryl Clark will be published. I did invite Hannah to participate in our 2025 IBBY Australia Mini Masterpiece online art auction. If we run this event again in 2027 I do hope she will consider participating. I would love to own a piece of her beautiful art. Hannah Sommerville has illustrated some wonderful books:
