SENSES AT THE SEASHORE

Say what you will about the seashore, it is a stimulating place, a sensual extravaganza. You can revel in the surf, feel the misery of sand in your suit, listen to the roar of a seashell or gag at a waft from a drying bed of seaweed. Rotner is a partisan of the seashore and her gorgeous color photographs are transportingly sharp. All of the children in these pages are having a good time (even if the seaweed stinks), and their senses are getting a serious workout. The format is simple and direct: a bright picture, an uncomplicated caption. “Touch the cold water” or “Smell the fresh fish,” for instance. Not a remarkable degree of originality—at a rather high price—but in its very ingenuousness, it agreeably gets the job done for a young audience. To every sense, there is a provocation at Rotner’s seashore. (Picture book. 3-6)