At the Beach - Hardcover

Anne Rockwell has written numerous books for children, including At the Beach and The First Snowfall, both illustrated by Harlow Rockwell. She lives in Stamford, Connecticut.

PreS A young preschooler accompanies her mother to the beach and in a first-person narrative describes familiar beach activities such as putting on sunscreen and chasing sandpipers. The clear and simple watercolor illustrations have a traditional Rockwell look to them with softly rounded shapes rendered in seaside tones. The concepts presented are appropriate as an introduction for this age, but the uninspired text, composed of a series of statements (``I wear my bathing suit,'' ``I wade in the water''), convey a staccato feeling to the experience. It raises one questiondoes simple have to be simplistic? A better choice is Helen Oxenbury's Beach Day (Dial, 1982). Caroline Ward, Nassau Library System, Uniondale, N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.