Book reviews from 4-7 years: Seaside

Sounds of the Wild: Ocean by Maurice Pledger (Templar, ISBN 9781840118841)

This book delighted my whole class. I have never heard them so quiet, as they waited in anticipation for me to turn the pages! Each ocean scene offers a pop-up picture teeming with different animals. To bring these animals to life, there is a written description of the scenes, and the book even plays the sounds you would hear if you were there.

For those who wish to find out more about the animals on show, each illustration has a corresponding page giving you information about every animal appearing in it. The language, both in the imagery of the written description and the more technical vocabulary of the non-fiction pages, is quite challenging and so makes the book suitable for whole-class work. My children loved it – but I wonder how long the batteries would last once the children got hold of it!