A Day at the Beach: Animal Life on the Shore

Primary readers will feel like they have spent an exciting day at the beach when they explore the six titles in this colorful, fact-packed series about animal inhabitants at the seashore. Each nonfiction title has a table of contents, index, and Science Words (essentially a mini glossary) section to assist in helpful navigation of information, as well a “Read More” section that directs students to more titles on the subject. A link to online resources provides readers with crossword puzzles and other information, plus a Science Lab quiz that offers readers more opportunities to learn about the topic. The beautifully illustrated text includes well-labeled illustrations and photos that provide lots of solid facts and unusual information, like how “bloodworms actually have metal fangs,” “each barnacle is both male and female,” and “a hermit crab has five pairs of legs.” These titles will spark interest about a trip to the beach while providing the school bound beachcomber with engaging explanations of all things seaside.
Highly Recommended

This is a great read for all of those, who are curious about the little creatures clinging to rocks by the sea, or fans of sea life and little biologists.

With bright and real life photographs, this dives into the world of limpets, barnacles and whelks. These small, subtle creatures might seem mundane, but there’s more to them than what is seen at first glance. The book begins with limpets, moving on to barnacles, and then to whelks. After a short, easy-to-understand description of what the small creature is and where it is found, more detailed bits of information are revealed about feeding habits, reasons for living where it does as well as any other interesting details. Never does the information bog down, but keeps the facts short and, many times, fun.

The photographs are taken in real-life settings, allowing the reader to see the creatures and their habitats as they are to be found in nature. They are bright, detailed and often include interesting scenes, which show the little guys in action. Little boxes with terms point to the features, making the meaning clear. There’s a pretty sea-shell box on each two-page spread which offers a curious detail or added information, which is sure to interest the reader. To add to the fun, every now and then, a question appears, which makes readers think. The answers to these are found at the end of the book.

The text is written in large print, making it easy to read. The vocabulary fits ages four to eight nicely, while introducing a few new terms (which can be found in a glossary in the back of the book). It’s well organized while keeping enough variety to hold interest the whole way through. Although this doesn’t dive into extremely exact attributes of the creatures, it gives a very nice overview as well as a few lesser known facts. There’s definitely something new for small ocean biology fans to discover and learn.