Daisy Dawson at the Beach

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

Curious, adventurous, imaginative (and having the felicitous ability to communicate with animals), Daisy Dawson is back again. After discovering her gift in the first book of the series—meeting lambs in the winter snow and otters in a pond in later ones—Daisy heads off to the beach for a summer holiday. Eager to swim and surf, Daisy explores the seashore and meets some new friends: Rabsy and Raberta, ditsy baby rabbits who add humor with their naivete, nasty seagulls who think only of food and, when he pinches her toe, a hip crab who loves to dance. Danger threatens (mildly) when Daisy has to rescue Rabsy from the waves and more urgently when she discovers—hearing its plea for help—a young dolphin trapped undersea in a net. Daisy and her new friends rise to the occasion in a satisfying climax ending with a blissful ride on the dolphin's back. Voake, as usual, gives each animal its special character, while incorporating the environment—here by letting young readers experience sun, shore, and waves, as well as the thrills of surfing and skimming the sea. Though Meserve's pencil and ink drawings spilling over the pages make the layout attractive and lead the reader on, their dark, thick strokes sometimes seem too heavy for the lightness of the text (the crabs, for example, are much more appealing in color on the cover). Short, easy to read, adventurous without being threatening, the Daisy books will attract an audience of readers who can enjoy a book on their own or listeners who find the happy, self-motivated little girl having magical encounters to envy. Part of the "Daisy Dawson" series. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft