Enchanted Beach by Esther Freud & Illustrated by Emma Chinnery - #bookreview

 

Enchanted beach is where we play, through the seasons, blue or grey.

Sand and pebbled, deep and wide. Miles and miles from side to side...

The Blurb

A lyrical picture book celebrating the changing seasons and living at the seaside with a gentle environmental message by an award-winning author and an exciting new illustration talent.

From summer days spent playing on the beach, to flying kites in autumn, to buffeting winter storms and treasure hunts in spring, this is a magnificent celebration of the seaside throughout the changing year. This joyful story charts family life by the sea and celebrates many milestones such as birthdays and New Years. Esther’s lively poetic and lyrical text combines perfectly with Emma’s classic illustrations to captivate and enchant young readers.

My Review

This is such a lovely book which portrays the beauty of the beach in all seasons and weathers.

We follow a family and their dog as they visit the beach. They go there to play when it's warm. In autumn they go to fly their kite. In winter to skim stones on the water. At New Year they watch the swimmers taking a cold dive into the icy waters, and in the storms they see what treasures the sea has washed onto the beach.

The book has been beautifully illustrated by Emma Chinnery in water colour style paintings. These pictures accompany Esther Freud's text perfectly.

Their collaborative skills have made for a wonderful combination and have succeeded in producing this beautiful and charming book for young children. Both pre-schoolers and early independent readers will enjoy what this book has to offer.

Book Details

ISBN:  978 1529522822

Publisher:  Walker Books

Formats:  E-book and hardback

No. of Pages:  32 (hardback)

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org

Blackwell's

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

Esther Freud trained as an actress before writing her first novel, Hideous Kinky, which was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys prize and made into a film starring Kate Winslet. After publishing her second novel, Peerless Flats, she was chosen as one of Granta’s Best Young British novelists. Her other books include The Sea House, Lucky Break, and Mr Mac and Me, which won Best Novel in the East Anglian Book Awards.

You can also find Esther at:

Author Website

Instagram

About the Illustrator

Emma is a British illustrator and writer living in Suffolk.

Her debut author-illustrated children’s picture book My Friend Andy was published in March 2024 with Little Tiger.

After working as a graphic artist in London for several years, she followed her passion for children’s books and studied on the MA Children’s Book Illustration course at the Cambridge School of Art, graduating with a Distinction in 2021.

She loves to work with children and run workshops and live drawing sessions in schools and libraries.

She enjoys sketching people out and about and looking for those little stories going on everywhere around us! 

When she's not drawing or writing, you’ll find her on a bike, cycling the country lanes of Suffolk.

You can also find Emma at:

Author Website

Instagram

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(author photo/bio courtesy of Good Reads)

(illustrator photo/bio courtesy of her website)

(all opinions are my own)

(Bookshop.org affiliated)

A Midlife Holiday by Cary J Hansson - #BookReview

 

"Stevie Nicks is a Legend!"

"What?" Daisy, who sat nearest the door and whose job it should have been to say this coded warning, looked up, eyes blanks as buttons.

"Stevie Nicks," Helen hissed again, "is a legend!" She already had her coat on, ready to go home, and her arms were filled with a bouquet of M&S Finest Seasonal Blooms, a bottle of Bucks Fizz and a box of Honey Dust Kissable Body Powder. Still she managed to jab her elbow in the direction of the corridor.

The penny dropped. Daisy grabbed her mug, making a show of drinking from it. So did Anne. And Tina. Then, along with Helen, they all turned and beamed at Dr Ross, who was now standing in the doorway having seemingly forgotten why she was there.

***

She wanted a change. But will a girls' trip to the Mediterranean recapture her joy?

Helen Winters worries the walls are closing in. With her children grown and her selfish husband absent on her fiftieth birthday, she regrets not taking the exciting paths she dreamed about in her youth. So when a well-meaning gift reveals a depressing image of her future, she takes a leap of faith and jets off to Cyprus with two lifelong friends.

Basking in the glorious sunshine and crystal-blue waters while enjoying the attention of handsome men, Helen starts to feel truly alive. But her best friend isn't in Cyprus for the sunshine, and when Helen learns the true reason, tensions threaten their lifelong bond and she fears nothing will ever be the same again.

Can she shake off years of disappointment and claim well-deserved happiness?

***

Three long established best friends, Helen, Caro and Kay know and understand each other really well. However, when they all go on a girls holiday to Cyprus, things take an unusual turn.  They discover things about each other that surprises them all, and the author dealt with this exceptionally well.

In the characters of all three women we can see aspects that we can either identify with, or know someone a bit like them. It is this ability to be able to identify with them that made this both an engaging and worthwhile book to read.

It is very much a character led novel which is driven ahead with excellent dialogue as well as wonderful descriptions. I would challenge anyone who, having read this, does not want to immediately jump on a plane and sit on a Cyprus beach. 

The author excellently describes women of middle age and the feeling that there are still so many things that they each wanted to achieve, but have not been able to due to various responsibilities they have toward careers and families.

This is a highly engaging book which I enjoyed from start to finish and strongly recommend it. I am also delighted to discover that this is the first in a planned trilogy. A Midlife Baby is due to be published in November of this year and I can hardly wait.

ISBN: 978 9198758733

Publisher: Hansson Publishing

Format: e-book and paperback

No. of Pages: 318 (paperback)

About the Author:

Cary grew up in the UK, but now lives in Sweden. After a varied career that saw her tap-dancing in a pantomime and selling towels on shopping channels, she settled down to write contemporary fiction. She swims in the Baltic year round, stands on her head once a day and enjoys Merlot over Shiraz.

(author photo courtesy of the authors Twitter page and ARC courtesy of NetGalley)