Customer Reviews

The Seashore Book

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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In The Seashore Book, Charlotte Zolotow creates an image of a day at the seashore so clearly that a reader could almost hear the seagulls and feel the ocean breeze caress the face. Zolotow chooses the perfect words to describe the sights and sounds of the seashore. When she describes the lighthouse "golden gleam on, golden gleam gone" the reader can easily imagine a summer evening on Cape Hatteras with a golden light shining out to sea. The illustrations are no less impressive. One can almost feel the sun warming the skin and the sand rubbing against your toes. I often give the book as a baby gift. It is one that you could share with a child over and over or enjoy yourself when you need a reminder of sun and sand on a dreary winter day.

I bought this book for my children shortly after we spent the summer in a beach house on Hatteras Island, NC. This book completely captures the essence of a day there . . . or on any seashore for that matter. It immediately became one of my children's favorite books as the prose is so evocative and the illustrations so lovely. Seven years later, it is still one of their all-time favorites. Mine, too! Over the years, I have given many copies of "The Seashore Book" as gifts and have received nothing but rave reviews from parents and children. I've just ordered another copy from Amazon to give as a new baby gift. You see, this book is truly timeless.

When I used to go into the children's corner at a bookstore on Nantucket Island I would see THE SEASHORE BOOK and look at it over and over again. Now that I own it I still go to that same book corner and look for it. I think anyone who loves this book would like to read MALINDA MARTHA AND HER SKIPPING STONES (also available from amazon.com). For anyone who hasn't seen the ocean like the little boy in THE SEASHORE BOOK or for children who go to the seashore alot, it is enjoyable to look at the many illustrations of the activities at the seashore, and know about skipping stones. Children can't have too many books on such an inspiring subject.

I liked The Seashore Book because the mother and her son used their imagination almost always. The boy had never seen the ocean so he imagined the sea. His mother tells the boy about the sea. Charlotte Zolotow creates very good mind pictures. It almost feels like you're there.

I love this book for many reasons, but the main reason is that the cadence of the story puts my son to sleep. We have been using this book as the third of three bedtime stories for about 1 1/2 years now and it still works.

Charlotte Zolotow is such a talented writer! This has to be one of the best books about the ocean I have ever seen. It is a true out of body experience. I'm sitting a few hundred yards away from the Chespeake Bay and, reading this book, it was like I was lifted out of my chair and transported straight down to the beach. And the concept of being able to explain something so truly and completely that someone who has never experienced it in real life can still catch a glimmer of the feeling is an intriguing one. I can see this book being used in classrooms to introduce descriptive writing and urban children being asked to describe the sights and sounds of the city in such a way that a child from the country can imagine it. Teachers and homeschooling families could find a penpal for each child in a different part of the country to exchange these letters with. Even for an adult, this would be an amazing experience -- to find someone and try to share a little bit of your world with her, and to imagine hers in turn.

And the illustrations match the text perfectly. This book is a real gem.

You know what makes this book so charming? Well, it's life in its purest form. What is more down-to-earth than an inquisitive child? Nothing! Absolutely Nothing! As see through a child's eyes - The Seashore Book delivers a journey back to innocence! How Wonderful!

The story of a mother creating a pretend day at the seashore for her son is absolutely beautiful. The text is poetic and transports the reader to the beach just as it does her son. The illustrations are truly beautiful. The only thing I dislike about this book is the font is more of an outline than actual solid letters which is a bit straining for my eyes, this is more of an annoyance than anything.

As a teacher, I feel this book lends itself beautifully to visualization and text to self connections. My students loved the illustrations and were eager to identify the author's use of sounds, colors, similes, and metaphors. This book provided background knowledge that we used to create our own sensory paragraphs about the seashore. ... I think it is one of Charlotte Zolotow's best!