THE SANDCASTLE CONTEST is two stories that got stuck together. One story was made up in 1992 for my daughter, Tyya, while we were on vacation on a little island in the Caribbean named Nevis. Tyya was 6 years old then, and she loved to build sandcastles. I made up a story where she built such a nice sandcastle that everybody thought it was a real castle. This story became one of my ‘beach’ stories, and I told it whenever I was telling stories on a beach or a sandbox. MEANWHILE, on my street live the Luttmans. Every summer they loaded up a camper with all sorts of stuff and then put 5 bicycles ON TOP of the camper and drove off down the street. I decided to make up a story about a family who took along EVERYTHING for a camping trip. MEANWHILE, I knew the Luttman kids were bugging their parents to get a dog, and I had made up lots of stories about kids who wanted a dog, but NONE of them were ever any good. ALL OF THE SUDDEN, these three things all got tangled into one story, and out came THE SANDCASTLE CONTEST.
The Sandcastle Contest
Written by Robert Munsch.
Illustrated by Michael Martchenko.
Published by Scholastic Canada, 1970.
