Review - Beach Baby

Beach Baby
by Laurie Elmquist
illustrated by Elly MacKay
Date: 2016
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 24
Format: e-book
Source: library

A gentle, poetic lullaby for baby, filled with memories from a perfect day playing on the beach. Castles, sand dollars, seals peering out of the waves and the beat of the ocean become sweet reminders of all the magical things that await baby tomorrow. A lyrical celebration of natural beauty and a soft, reassuring reminder for little ones being tucked into bed that fun and adventure will return with a new day.

Elly MacKay's paper-theater worlds are a delight to behold and infuse the story with a sense of magic and wonder. Beautiful verse from Laurie Elmquist sets a calm and serene tone. A breathtaking board book that will be treasured and make a wonderful gift.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is a really uneven book for me. I loved the pictures... but I kind of hated the text.

The book starts with the words, "Everything will be here when you wake", which sounds a little ominous to me. My first thought was, "Why wouldn't it be? Do you know something I don't know?" The rest of the "story" is just naming things one might see at the beach. I can't even tell if the words are supposed to be sentences; each line is capitalized, but there's zero punctuation. Well, I shouldn't say zero. There's one comma in there somewhere, and a period at the very end. So is it one long run-on sentence?

The illustrations are really pretty. They're soft and dreamy, with warm tones that make everything look like it's bathed in sunset. There's some neat stuff done with focus, too, leading to some interesting shifts of perspective. The copyright page states that the art was done with "paper, ink, light and photography". I would love to know the exact process, because some of the illustrations are pretty stunning.

I might recommend this one for the pictures alone, but the text is quite weak and not all that appealing. This could've easily been a wordless picture book and it would've been just as effective.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5