"Childlike and sometimes amusing, the short, rhymed poems are accessible on their own and, with Shepperson’s illustrations, even more so. The expressive ink-and-wash drawings, which appear on every page, set up visual contexts for the poems and underscore the emotions and the humor found there."
     —Booklist

"These delightful poems center on a family's trip to the ocean and are told from the perspective of young Sam. ... In one poem, when the boy cannot take his pet gerbil, he tells readers he is taking a spider instead. "Oops" relates how it escapes. An amusing pen-and-ink illustration adroitly conveys the ensuing chaos. ... This book, with its expressive art that expands on the humor in each poem, should have wide appeal."
     —School Library Journal