When I duck and dive through the towering waves,
I see what the dolphin sees –
seaweed that sways in the rush and ebb
of the ocean’s salty swell.
Beach Song is the story of a child who is spending a day at the beach. As they explore the coast they see the places through the eyes of the creatures that live there.
As they dive into the sea and surf the waves, they see like the seal sees, ‘the torrent of froth’. As they stare out to see, they see like a whale sees, ‘the wind whipped troughs of the tuning tide. They blow like the whale blows.’
When they run on the beach, they see what the seagull sees, the sparkling spears of water falling from the darkening purple sky. They see like a turtle sees – ‘a fountain of sand that flies from her flipper, to cover her eggs in a soft, cool cocoon. They dig like a turtle.’
This beautiful book is so lyrically written. The words are poetry, prompting our imaginations to soar like a cockatoo, land like a pelican or burrow like a crab.
The illustrations marry so well with Moriarty’s words. They are warm and happy, making us feel such positive emotions around what we see and experience at the beach. Words and images combine to let loose upon us the joy of this child, enveloped in the world around them.
This is a special book to read at home but also for the classroom. It offers wonderful discussion and prompts opportunities to look at places around us through the eyes of the animals that live there.
Reviewed by Emily Ross
Age Guide 3+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
Tasmanian-born Ros Moriarty is a business owner, social investor and author. She is Co-Founder, Co-Chair and Honorary Managing Director of Moriarty Foundation, and Co-Founder, Creative Executive and Managing Director of Balarinji, Australia’s foremost Indigenous design and strategy studio.
Ros is the author of the memoir Listening to Country, shortlisted for both The Age 2010 Book of the Year, and the 2010 Australian Human Rights Commission Literary Award. She has also written eight picture books for children, variously listed for The Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award (2012 & 2015), and the 2013 Australian Environment Award for Children’s Literature, with text in both English and Yanyuwa, one of the languages spoken by Aboriginal families in Borroloola.
Ros hopes the Moriarty Foundation’s work will lead to a more equitable Australia that respects and values a rich and unique Aboriginal worldview. She is proud of the Foundation’s commitment to enabling families to unlock their children’s potential through the power of football and innovative culturally-cognisant walking classrooms.
Samantha Campbell is a published Children’s Book Illustrator & Graphic Designer based in Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
Samantha is descended from the Dagoman people from Katherine and as a child lived in remote Aboriginal communities across the Top End. Samantha studied Graphic Design in Melbourne in 2013 and worked as a freelance Graphic Designer for four years before illustrating her first children’s book Alfred’s War, written by Rachel Bin Salleh (Alfred’s War was later shortlisted for two literary awards). Since then, she has become hooked on illustrating children’s books, and continues to work as a Graphic Designer and illustrator for Coolamon Creative, a creative services business she owns and operates with her sister, Gabrielle Fry.
Samantha enjoys illustrating with a range of different mediums in many styles.
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