Hear the Sea. (Look Around Books). Angèle Delaunois. Illustrated by Mylène Henry. Translated by Julia Beck. Toronto, ON: Annick Press, 2015. 24 pp., hc., html & pdf, $9.95 (hc.). ISBN 978-1-55451-760-2 (hc.), ISBN 978-1-55451-761-9 (html), ISBN 978-1-55451-762-6 (pdf). Preschool-kindergarten / Ages 3-5. Review by Kaitlyn Vardy. **** /4
	Feel the Wind. (Look Around Books). Rhéa Dufresne. Illustrated by Guillaume Perreault. Translated by Julia Beck. Toronto, ON: Annick Press, 2015. 24 pp., hc., html & pdf, $9.95 (hc.). ISBN 978-1-55451-766-4 (hc.), ISBN 978-1-55451-767-1 (html), ISBN 978-1-55451-768-8 (pdf). Preschool-kindergarten / Ages 3-5. Review by Kaitlyn Vardy. **** /4
	Look at the Sky. (Look Around Books). Rhéa Dufresne. Illustrated by Jacinthe Chevalier. Translated by Julia Beck. Toronto, ON: Annick Press, 2015. 24 pp., hc., html & pdf, $9.95 (hc.). ISBN 978-1-55451-763-3 (hc.), ISBN 978-1-55451-764-0 (html), ISBN 978-1-55451-765-7 (pdf). Preschool-kindergarten / Ages 3-5. Review by Kaitlyn Vardy. **** /4

excerpt:

Blowing softly with all its might, the wind fills me with such delight. (From Feel the Wind.)

The “Look Around Books” series uses its own rhythm and rhyme in each title to introduce children to the elements and beauty of nature.

     Hear the Sea highlights the magnificent features of the ocean and all the things the sea offers, “She scatters stars in the sand…hides shellfish in hollowed our rocks…And offers shells to children who listen.”

     Feel the Wind follows a boy through a windy day, and through rhyme he expresses all the things he finds wonderful about the wind: “The north-east wind makes turbines spin. Their magical beauty makes me grin…The summer breeze makes my clothes fly as Granny hangs them up to dry...A warm dry current, invisible in the air, tickles my face and ruffles my hair.”

     Look at the Sky illustrates the temperaments and transformations we see in the sky “While the great blizzard’s blast covers every last blade of grass…A thick fog is here only the light house is clear…What a treat! There’s a rainbow at the end of the street.”

     These titles are all great read-alouds and have a widespread vocabulary. They encourage children to use their imagination and will awaken their appreciation of nature. The illustrations in these titles are majestic and colourful.

     Author Rhéa Dufresne is a critic, editorial assistant and author while Angèle Delaunouis is a children’s author who has written more than seventy titles. Illustrator Mylène Henry has been illustrating for 15 year and operates a seasonal art gallery. Jacinthe Chevalier studied in the Arts Visuels et Mediatiques Program at the University of Quebec at Montreal. Guillaume Perreault is a children’s book illustrator and the author and illustrator of his own book, Cumulus. Perreault draws by hand and finishes his work digitally.

Highly Recommended.

Kaitlyn Vardy is a Children’s Librarian at the Prince George Public Library in Prince George, BC.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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