Anyone who has felt a rush of frigid wind as they stepped onto a beach on a winter's day knows the exhilaration of the child protagonist in Charles Trevino and Maribel LeChuga's alliterative and observant Seaside Stroll.
The book opens on an adult and child bundling up to take a beachside winter stroll. Poetic sibilance--"slow steps--shuffle, straddle, saunter"--soothes while also hinting at the action to come: child, caregiver and doll "spin" and "swing" at the "spectacular... sparkling" seaside. In one scene, a sudden wave leaps up over a rock, causing the child to drop a doll into a tide pool: "Swish... swirl... surge... surprised!" LeChuga (Ten Beautiful Things) uses playful mixed-media illustrations to round out each action, showing with the page turn the child's face alight with relief as the doll is "saved!" After an afternoon of exploration, the pair trudge home, the sun setting at their backs. The story ends as cozily as it begins with a steamy tub soak, a story, silence and sleep.
The play between text and art highlights the natural world's impermanence as the child explores. The changing perspectives of the illustrations allow readers to experience the story through multiple views, while the text, refreshingly devoid of pronouns or first names, lets readers make their own choices about the narrator. The back of the book features an author's note with a brief lesson on parts of speech and a discussion of the importance of the story's structure which is "meant to capture the wonder of exploration and discovery." --Kieran Slattery, freelance reviewer, teacher, and co-creator, Gender Inclusive Classrooms