Looking Closely Along the Shore Book

Frank Serafini creates a portal to the shore through his visually stunning photographs, inviting children (and adults) to explore every detail within them. The book introduces a habitat and then offers cropped images of a photograph containing something native to this area, such as a sand dollar at the shore. The cropped image is accompanied with questions and suggestions on what the item may be and then it is followed by the full picture and a description that gives readers facts about that animal or plant. The photographs make the book, as Frank Serafini traveled all around the world to find the perfect subjects for his habitats. The passion and care he took to take these photos translates beautifully into great nonfiction pieces of literature.
The most obvious literary element used is setting. The title states it quite clearly as the shore, but keeps it vague enough to include any shore in any part of the world. The pictures bring those words to life. It brings the readers to the shore and makes them feel as they are wading in the tide pools created during low tide, discovering the sea stars and shore crabs. The way Frank chose to present his non-fiction works speaks to his style choices, as he used the photography medium to display the many things found at the shore, such as the Gooseneck Barnacle. The photographs themselves visually catch the reader's eyes with the natural patterns and colors found at the shore.
Serafini uses landscape photography to reveal the shore to his readers. The first page containing the cropped image contains a black page with the circle and inside the circle is the peek at what the reader can find at the shore. The border is big enough to show a good-sized portion of the image without overtly giving away the surprise. The second line of the text on every page is curved, and every time the page asks you to look closely, the word closely is curved as if inviting you in. The stunning visuals presented in the books are timeless representations of these great places ever child should have the opportunity to explore.