Both classroom teachers and vacationing parents will find this little book to be a charmer. Counting from one to twelve, Sue picks up shells--periwinkle, kittens paw, scallop--and carefully adds them to her bucket as a gift for Grandma. She and her friend identify the shells, and when they discover one that still has the mollusk living inside they put it back in the water--learning that shells are actually the (usually) abandoned homes of sea animals.The paperback edition contains a tear-out shell identification card to enhance the hands-on lesson in simple wonders from nature.