Review of My Ocean Is Blue by Darren Lebeuf And Ashley Barron

"This is my ocean," the young girl begins as she heads over the dunes with her mother. Then, as they pass the whole day at the seaside, she lyrically describes her ocean in simple, sensory detail. It's both "slimy" and "sandy," "sparkly" and "dull." It has wonderful sounds, as it "splashes and crashes and echoes and squawks." And it contains so many colors, from "rusted orange" to "runaway red," "faded white" to "polished green." Though "mostly it's blue." Nothing the girl experiences escapes her careful observation and appreciation. And at day's end, she can't wait for her next trip to the beach.

Author Darren Lebeuf, an award-winning photographer, uses spare text and a rhythmic style to create an evocative read-aloud. The vivid adjectives, both concrete and abstract, will inspire children to try to capture in words what they notice not only at the ocean, but in any natural setting. The bright, richly colored cut-paper collage illustrations by Ashley Barron add a captivating visual texture and depth to the story. The portrayal of a girl with a physical disability enjoying and actively participating in a day at the beach encourages all children to do the same in their own lives, while also offering a character education lesson in adaptability. This book has strong curriculum ties to primary nature units and life science lessons on oceans and the seaside, and it offers a perfect focus for nature-based education and outdoor classrooms.

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**My thoughts**

This is a sweet love letter to the magnificent ocean, that is always changing and has so many wonderful things to offer. It's a playful look at opposites and an ode to the beautiful blues. It also really captures how much fun you can have in one day at the beach. I can appreciate all that the child loves about the ocean, because I also love the ocean.

The illustrations are unique in a way, looking to be intricately cut and painted pieces of paper, maybe? You can tell they took an awful lot of time to be put together just right. And I felt like they did capture the essence of the story. And I appreciate how on the jacket, it says that the illustrator Ashley loves to spend time biking along her "ocean," aka Lake Ontario. I'm on the opposite side of the Great Lake from her and have also often thought of it as my own ocean. It is quite ocean-like, even though it is a lake.

Thank you to the publisher for fulfilling my review request via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.