Touch me. Feel Me. But watch out for the crabs! (By the Seashore - Maurice Pledger, A. G. Wood)

Member Name: belfin

Product:	By the Seashore - Maurice Pledger, A. G. Wood
Date:	14/02/06 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Equally educational and fun

Disadvantages: none

***Background***

This book was written and illustrated by Maurice Pledger assisted by A.J. Wood in 1998 and is published by Templar Publishing. It is part of the Nature Trail Series, a hard backed set, which has a bit of everything in here with touch and feel sections as well as flaps to lift up. Along the way there is also a treasure hunt where you can search for rings and necklaces amongst others. Maurice Pledger books specialise in giving your child something to do other than turn the pages and listen to the story and he has other series available including Peek and Find Adventure and the Bumper Sticker series.

***The Story***

The lovely rhyming story starts by saying,

“ Open this book. What will you find?
Curious creatures of every kind.
All sorts of things to see and feel –
A garden of coral, a furry seal.”

On the next page we are told that there are six items of treasure to find. Turn the page and the story continues with what we can find in a rock pool. Next we find out about coral and starfish. We then take a trip underwater where we see lots of fish swimming as well as a seahorse. Back on the shore we see lots of shells and see all the different varieties you could find on the beach. Creatures such as seagulls and crabs are featured on the next page as the search goes on before ending back under the water where we see lots of fish,

“Darting, diving fins and tails.
A shoal of fish with glittering scales.
What else is shining in the sea?
Lift the flap – What can it be?

***Touch and Feel***

The thing that makes this touch and feel book different from all the others is that each bumpy, lumpy, scratchy or soft surface is applicable twice as it pops through the holes in the flap. This teaches children the similarities in how certain items feel. The spongy anemone is shown under the seaweed flap, the coral is compared to the starfish and the seahorse is swimming round the sea urchins.

There are lots of different textures for your child to feel including the smooth, leathery feel of the seagull’s feet and the rough, sandy texture of the shell.

***Flaps***

Flaps are always a favourite with children as they try to guess what it underneath. In this book the flaps hide the other touch and feel item on the page and they are given a clue in the text as to what it might be. The crab is described as “A creature scuttling out of reach….”

As well as the touch and feel item hiding under the flap we also find a question for your child. On one occasion we are asked how many arms the starfish has and another gets us to count the number of fish on the page. This encourages children not only to count but to have fun looking for the items on the page too.

***The Illustrations***

The illustrations here are lifelike and informative. They show what real creatures look like and there the different varieties of fish, urchins and coral are shown delightfully. The colours are bright and realistic and there is a fantastic attention to detail throughout with every pebble or shell just that little bit different in size and shape.

***My Thoughts***

Like most of the newer children’s books out there now, we’ve borrowed this one from the library. Mainly, because books such as these can be expensive, and this gives my son a different variety to choose from, each time. Also though, we have a vast amount of kids’ books already and there is literally no more room in the bookshelves for any more.

I think this book is fantastic and I’m already on the lookout for others in the series. The touch and feel side of the book is fantastic and my favourite are the Velcro like texture of the coral and the starfish and the lumpy, bumpy feel of the seahorse and the sea urchin. My son loves the feel of the shiny glittering fish at the end of the book and the crab’s leather like surface.

The flaps add that little bit more excitement to the book that fulfils my son’s sense of discovery and the questions on each page encourage him to find and count all the creatures. To be honest this is something I tend to incorporate into books such as this one when I’m reading them anyway but it’s nice to see it written here to give other parent’s ideas of discussion points.

The story is gentle throughout and certain descriptive words are written in bigger and bolder font that the rest such as scratchy, crusty and squidgy. The illustrations to go with it are lovely. They are bold and bright to catch your child’s attention.

The final part of this book, which my son loves to take part in, is the treasure hunt. On each double page along the way there are treasures to find that have been washed up on the beach or hidden at the bottom of the sea. This for me just adds that extra bit of fun into a book, which is already full to the brim.

***Other Titles In The Nature Trail Series***

Dinosaurs
Beetles & Bugs
Reptiles
In The Forest
In The Jungle
In The Ocean
In The Mountain
Little Deer’s Adventures

***Other Info***

This series is aimed at children aged 3-5.

On the back of the book the price is £7.99 but Amazon sell it for £6.39. One place I have surprisingly found this book even cheaper though is Play.com who sell it for £5.99 with no postage costs.

ISBN No. 1-84011-007-4

Summary: Great book with lots of activities for your child.