Looking Closely Along the Shore: Book Review

Inside: A book review and activities for Looking Closely Along the Shore

Looking Closely Along the Shore book review and activities

Title: Looking Closely Along the Shore
Author & Photographer: Frank Serafini
Publisher: Kids Can Press, 2008
Intended Audience: Everyone!
Topic: Non-Fiction, Seashore

Opening:

Look very closely. What do you see? A flower? A fossil? What could it be?

Synopsis (from Amazon): “Look closely. Look very closely. Is it? a string of beads? stars in the sky? Give up? Just turn the page and, lo and behold, it’s an ochre sea star! See what looks like a bird’s beak revealed as a gooseneck barnacle, blades of grass as a blue mussel, and many more surprises when you look closely along the shore.”

Why I Chose This Book: The book is like a puzzle and is full of surprises. The kids love guessing what the seashore creature, plant or object might be. Every other page begins in the same way (the repetition is perfect for my Grade 1 students) and the “big reveal” page is full of interesting facts. The photography is beautiful and really encourages the kids to have an extended look.

Links to Resources:

1. If you live near the ocean, then the first thing you need to do is go down to the beach with some magnifying glasses and your digital camera.

2. If you don’t have a magnifying glass, then you can go here to find out how to make your own.

3. When you’re at the beach, be sure to take lots of close-up photos of everything you see.

4. Once home, print the photos of the pictures you took (or you could cut out magazine pictures) and use them to make your very own peek-a-boo book. They’re easy to do if you follow the directions from Adventures in a Box.

5. This book pairs PERFECTLY with …

Life-Size Aquarium shows the actual size of the parts of different ocean creatures. It’s VERY cool!

I have more book reviews and activities about the OCEAN!

Happy Reading!

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21 thoughts on “Looking Closely Along the Shore: Book Review”

  1. I was looking down the list of books on PPBF and saw Looking CLosely Along the Shore. Said to myself – that must be Barb's book, she always has the coolest beach books, And, sure enough, you have another awesome beach book. Back to the library website I go!

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  2. Barbara I can see kids loving these puzzles and discoveries. Great time to post with some many families heading to beaches around the world for their vacations. I love your activities, too!

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  3. This book sounds wonderful! When I'm at the beach (the Atlantic) this summer, I'll remember it, and take some close-ups as well as the seascapes I'm looking forward to!Thank you for the great activities, as well. Perfect!

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