And the Tide Comes In...: Exploring a Georgia Salt Marsh [Hardcover]

This colorful picture book combines facts and fiction. A girl visits coastal Georgia, where her cousin takes her out to explore the nearby marsh and observe the wildlife there while she explains the complex ecosystem. On a typical double-page spread, a large painterly picture illustrates the story on one page, while the opposite page presents the narrative text and an illustrated paragraph of related information. The colorful artwork is at its best in landscape scenes and close-ups of animals. The book concludes with a map indicating the abundance of salt marshes in coastal areas worldwide. The pages with text also feature questions, such as 'What have you seen floating in the water?' The narrative works pretty well as a vehicle for conveying information, and the accompanying paragraphs and illustrations are helpful in filling in gaps. One of the few picture books on this fascinating and important topic.And the Tide Comes In. . . Exploring a Georgia Salt Marsh is a children's picturebook in which a young girl shows her visiting cousin the beautiful local salt marsh, and teaches her about its ecological complexity, including the twice-daily tides that submerge it! From the life cycles of shrimp and snails, to roaming raccoons and skittering crabs, the salt marsh is shared by a wide variety of amazing and busy animals! The story is told in the style of a friendly narrative, supplemented with fact-filled sidebars. All salt marshes are covered by salty water brought in from the ocean during high tide, and exposed to the air during low tide. Although the particular plants and animals found in marshes do differ from one area to another, they are all shared by land and marine animals, and they're all covered by grasses that can withstand getting flooded by salt water. Wonderful color illustrations enhance this enjoyable and educational treasury, highly recommended especially for public library children's collections.This educational book is a hybrid, using fictional charlC%