Enchanted Beach — Esther Freud

In her first picture book, a renowned novelist weaves a gentle environmental message into a lyrical ode to family life at the seaside through the changing seasons. It's stormy and the beach is whipped. Ridged and raked, the dune's a cliff. Swept and battered, littered, cluttered. Calm descends; we're left with gifts. Camping on the beach in summer, flying kites in autumn, combing storm-whipped sands in winter, treasure hunts in spring -- here is a magnificent tribute to life by the ocean throughout the year. In a joyful story charting a family's adventures and celebrations -- from New Year's to birthdays -- Esther Freud's poetic text melds with Emma Chinnery's sprightly, atmospheric illustrations to captivate little ocean lovers and budding conservationists.