Out of the Ocean

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This book was one of several that I used for a great lesson plan. It's a quick read and was a part of a larger reading plan I had for my fourth and fifth grade classes.

Beautifully written and illustrated ~ as always, Debra Frasier's perspective into the amazing cycle of lifeand how we are all connected to our natural environment and to each other.

I was thinking this was a book for toddlers, but it is actually more for a 5 year old or older.

a BEAUTIFUL book! My students loved looking at it over and over there is SO MUCH to see! I suggest buying more than 1 copy so children don't have to wait to enjoy it.

Really lovely book for children, with nice meaning for adults too!

'Out of the Ocean' is a very nicely layered book; it's almost like a combination of two books, with the latter part serving as a more detailed analysis for the initial children's story. Combining unique construction paper artwork with real photographs, Debra Frasier brings to life a child's perspective of having the ocean beachfront as one's everyday playground. She speaks of tangible "treasures" that wash up on shore (e.g., seashells, colorful burnished glass, messages in bottles, sharks' teeth) and intangible treasures (e.g., natural phenomena such as the sun "rising out of the ocean," the miracle of the ocean itself, etc.) -Perhaps most interesting, however, are the detailed glossary entries that she provides in the second part of the book; every issue and/or topic breached in the initial portion of the book is contextualized and expanded in the latter half of the book. Gently folding in historical, environmental, scientific and ethical perspectives, Fraser succeeds in substantiating her book as well as presenting the reader with a wondrous vision of the Vero Beach region of Florida.

The previous reviewers described this book so well that I don't have to! I just wanted to add that this book has "An Ocean Journal" section at the back. It basically describes all the beach items (natural and manmade jetsam) that have been photographed or created with paper art in the book. Shells, burnished glass, ropes, rafts, skate egg pouches (my favorite; for some strange reason I kept some on a shelf in my residence for awhile), wooden shoes have listings. Frasier then goes on to explain water, the sun, the moon, waves, and sand under the heading "Things Too Big to Carry Home". She even lists some flora to check out at beaches- beach sunflower, morning glories, sea oats, etc. The journal ends with interesting illustration notes. My strongest at-any-age-period memories are of East Coast beaches, so this book is a welcome addition to my daughter's library. She loves the poetry-tinged prose and investigating the photos. After a fall storm in Wildwood Crest, NJ (circa 2005), we found eleven shovels, about ten sand molds of various sizes, and a small doll. We still actually use some of these items in our sandbox, but the doll has been put away, as she is a symbol of my sacred beach memories from that time. (I keep found seashells on a low windowsill for my younger daughter to explore, as she has not been heavily "beachified" as of yet.) This book just reinforces our call to the sea and its plethora of gifts.

ずっと前に、地方新聞で紹介されてたのを見て欲しくなったときには、すでに絶版になっており、いつしかタイトルも忘れ・・・でも探していた絵本。やっと見つけました。オリンパス35で撮った写真とダイナミックな切り紙で構成されています。海の波や空、浜辺で拾った貝殻やビーチグラス、流れ着いたロープや流木、浮きなどのたくさんの写真が小さな窓のように配置されています。1990年代のフロリダのビーチの写真はどことなく懐かしい感じがします。著者が育った家の写真もカバーに載っています。「通りの名前はビーチコウマー。漂着物を拾う人」ですって。まさしく。家の正面に続く石段は砂だらけで、浜辺のすぐそばに建っているのですね。その海は大西洋で、ウミガメも卵を産みに来るところなのだそう。時々わたしも海へビーチグラスをさがしにいきます。偶然そこにもウミガメがやってくるのです。でも車で３０分はかかるので、しばらく行ってません。この絵本を読んだら、また海へ行きたくなりました。