Looking Closely Along the Shore

Looking Closely Along the Shore    By Frank Serafini     Kids Can Press  2008

The author is a teacher and a nature photographer. He used to teach primary grades, and currently he is a professor of Children’s Literature at the UNLV School of Education.

The format presents objects in a series of close up views that appear in the center of a black page. The opposite page ventures a few guesses about the object before prompting the reader with the question, “What could it be?’

The next page shows the whole photo in context and gives some information on the object.

For example, the panel of the sand dollar goes beyond the reveal to provide the reader with some information regarding its structure and how it moves across the sea floor.  Similar information is given for each object that is treated in the book.

This book and others in this series by Serafini are great ways to introduce young students to different habitats.

They are also useful in priming students to observe nature more closely, whether it is on a field trip, or in the garden.

The guessing game aspect of the series is very attractive to kids, and it also has the added value of embedding a bit of informational text in its format. Furthermore, the leading questions that are used to prime the students before asking them to make their guesses provide models on how to engage in brainstorming.

Other titles in the series include “Looking Closely Through The Forest” and “Looking Closely Through the Desert”.