Ava Anne Appleton #3: Catching a Wave product reviews

Miss Seven absolutely loved Ava's first adventure in Accidental Adventurer and has been pestering me for the next book. We seem to have missed number two Up and Away so will have to get that soon but Miss Seven very, very excited when she saw number three in the series Catching a Wave. She had almost finished it by the time we got home and declared it fantastic. "I really liked it, when can we buy the other one?"

Having travelled with our children reading Ava's adventures just enthuses me to do more with my girls. I love the positiveness of Ava and in this story she explores the beauty of the beach and ocean and makes a new friend of Cody as well as learning about the importance of those that inhabit our marine areas. Very good messages and this book certainly supports the learning of values.

This is a black and white chapter book with large print and an illustration almost every page. The illustrations all link in well with the story and are enough to encourage my Miss Six as well to read this books. I would recommend these for a reader aged six years and up though my Miss Six has enjoyed me reading this to her and she follows the words. The illustrations meant that Miss Three was happy to listen as well as the illustrations were often enough to keep her attention.

We all enjoy Ava's adventures so I can definitely recommend this series for a young reader especially one that loves adventures. We are all looking forward to the next instalment and will have to try to read number two in the series next.

We were introduced to Ava Anne Appleton in her first book, where her family up sticks and leave their house to travel Australia in a camper-van. Ava Anne is not a big fan of the traveling plan, but she goes along and this book series is about her adventures. In this latest adventure the Appletons end up at the beach.

The beach setting in this book was really neat. It made me think of Raglan, and our stays there. The small town, with the friendly locals and the surf, all reminded me of lazy summer days with my kids at the beach. But this book has a very serious side too, which really inspired my eldest daughter too. In the book, Ava Anne is learning to surf, but she is shown how dangerous plastic bags and beach litter can be when she meets a cute animal who is tangled.

What I really liked about this book was how Ava Anne tries things she is a bit scared of. How she manages to have fun in a strange setting, despite not being very skilled at what she is trying. I really liked how she was able to use her own talents and belief in doing the right thing, to make a difference. To me, it's important that my daughter have stories like this, where the main character is a girl and is strong and courageous.

There was a hint of a love story here too. I'm glad it was only hinted at, because it could so easily have been focused on and then the importance of the story would have been lost in blushing and hand holding. Plenty of time for that sort of thing when she is older. In the meantime, a worthwhile book for young confident readers.