Seaside Treasures: A Guidebook for Little Beachcombers

Seaside Treasures is a simple guide for young children to learn about the different items they can find on a beach. Written and illustrated by Sarah Grindler, Seaside Treasures showcases some of the interesting items a young beachcomber can find.

The book is well-laid out with simple text that can be easily read by a young child. There are a few words that a child might need explained but not too many. The text contains some wonderful descriptions, such as “urchins are round, spiky creatures”, that can grab a child’s interest and imagination. The text has good pacing and rhythm for both reading quietly and reading aloud.

The majority of the focus is on human created objects that can be found on a beach, things such as glass, china and fishing floats. A couple of pages briefly look at shells, but more information on the different types of shells found on a beach would be useful as shells will be more easily found than fishing floats. The pages on indigenous artifacts provide useful information on what artifacts may be present.

At the end of SeasideTreasures are some illustrations of possible crafts to make with shells and sea glass. The suggestions are great and will inspire some fun creations.

The illustrations are excellent. Vibrant and realistic, they provide a beautiful visual guide to the shells, sea glass and other items on the beach. The illustrations allow the book to be read to children as well as read by them.

Seaside Treasures is a wonderful introduction to beachcombing for young children. The simple text and beautiful illustrations will appeal to anyone who wonders what they can find on the beach.