Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve
This is a beautiful book, in both the illustrations which feature the natural wonders of the objects washed up by the tide, and the unfolding way the facts are revealed. The format is large, the illustrations have the softness of watercolour and the fold-out pages engage a young listener, readily. The final page has a wonderful surprise.
Having grown up by the beach at Bramble Bay, I recall many of these treasures, amongst them myriad varieties of shells, seaweed, and cuttle bones. These all appear in the pages of this treasure of a book, and more besides.
Not only a visual delight, the book is instructive too. I found information there that had escaped me despite childhood years scouring the shore. For example, scallops are excellent swimmers and propel themselves by snapping their shells. Dove snails have some of the smallest shells on the beach and Aboriginal people have eaten limpets, which are so good at sticking to rocks, for thousands of years. I did not realise that sponges are animals, not plants. They’re made of millions of tiny cells covering a net-like skeleton.
The beauty of Searching for Treasure is that it is not only offering interesting facts but encourages a child to look at sandy shorelines to discover what may have been washed up.
Sadly, however, both the Sunshine and Gold Coast beaches, where many children holiday, are quite barren of objects that once were so often spotted. Hordes of blue bottles, smelly seaweed and large jellyfish are the most common.
Hopefully, this book will kindle a joy in walking on the beach, in more secluded areas, in the hope of finding a treasure or two.
Searching for Treasure
[2025]
by Johanna Bell
Allen and Unwin
ISBN 978 176118 068 2
$24.99; 24pp