Out in the Bay product reviews

Mr Six and Miss Three love going to the seaside. The extended whanau has a beach house, so before they so much as turned to the first page of Out in the Bay, they had decided unanimously that the book would live there once we had finished reviewing it. The cover is a work of art in itself. It presents a mixture of sea greens and blues with the only splashes of bright colour being the sails of the yachts in the harbour.

Throughout the book the illustrations continue to delight. The children loved them and thought the images were true to life. They wondered if Ned Barraud, the author/illustrator, had actually been to their beach and drawn his inspiration from the area. Miss Six is into craft work and was interested in the picture of treasures - feathers, stones, and shells to collect.

It was fascinating for all of us to see the number of birds and other sea creatures depicted. It is easy to think of a beach as being deserted when there are no humans present; in fact the truth is quite different. The beach residents fly, perch, swim, dive, and paddle, all the time making various noises. The funniest graphic was that of the shags on the rock as they "let out squirts like a spray of yoghurt". Not a comparison that I would have thought of, but the children thought it was priceless.

The changing weather is an important aspect of life at the beach. I like the way the start of the story emphasized the calm day and the serene sea, and then a few pages later everything has changed and the storm is moving in. The image of the waves crashing around the wharf and the lightning strikes attacking the pier are a reminder of just how quickly things can change when children are playing on the beach. Mr Three was stung by a jellyfish recently so is aware that things are not always as they seem. The translucent jellyfish in the picture look beautiful, but it is important to know that they can be dangerous too.

The rhyming format of the story makes it really easy to follow, especially for Mr Three who is not yet ready to read. It is an excellent technique for pre-schoolers as it helps them to appreciate books and prepare themselves for the next stage when they start school. Reading should be fun, and this book certainly meets that criterion.