IT'S A SEASHELL DAY is the perfect beach companion for your little one!

My wife and I took our two-year-old son Nathan to the beach today. It was a beautiful day both for weather and general family fun, and memories. Nate played in the sand, wiled away in his little pirate tent, cackled as the waves crashed over him and dad, and he collected some shells for mom. It was the type of perfection that washes away the thoughts of traffic and parking issues in a tide of happiness. The shells will hopefully be the start of a collection that Nate will love for many years.

A shell collection could never be complete without a book like IT'S A SEASHELL DAY! Writer Dianne Ochiltree and artist Elliot Kreloff have jointly crafted the perfect book for small children. Why? Well, Kreloff's imagery is vibrant, cartoony, but realistic, thus it demands a little one's attention. Ochiltree's prose are lyrical, poetic, include counting, impart scientific wisdom, and instill a love for the sea. It takes immense talent to squeeze so much into just 32-pages, but mark my words, they've done it!

The story centers on a boy and his mother and their day at the beach collecting shells. Afterwards, there are several pages of deeper explanation of mollusks, and the myriad types of shells found in nature. Don't mistaken me, there is actual scientific terminology sprinkled into the main text, just enough to not overburden little readers. The heavier explanations and illustrations come afterwards, which will be good for those that are ready. The dual contents make this a book that children should be able to enjoy many times through the years.

Being a third grade teacher and a father, I can tell you that IT'S A SEASHELL DAY has everything I look for when buying a book for the young ones in my life. There's a captivating story, lovely drawings, and lessons to learn, in a fun way, about the wide, wonderful world. There's nothing better than a book that is immensely fun, brilliantly entertaining, and a teaching tool.

More about Dianne Ochiltree can be found on her webpage: http://dianneochiltree.com