The Specific Ocean

by Kyo Maclear (Author) Katty Maurey (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
In this gently told picture book, a young girl is unhappy about having to leave the city for a family vacation on the Pacific Ocean (which she used to call the Specific Ocean). As the days pass, however, she is drawn to spend more time in and near the water, feeling moved by its beauty and rhythms. “The ocean does its own thing, rolling backward and forward. Wash, swash, splush, hush. There is no late or hurry or racing in ocean time.” By the end of the vacation, the girl has grown to love the ocean and now feels reluctant to leave it behind. But as she soon realizes, it doesn't ever have to leave her. “Calm. Blue. Ruffled. Gray. Playful. Green. Mysterious. Black. Foggy. Silver. Roaring. White. No matter where I am, this specific ocean will be with me.”Author Kyo Maclear has written a sweet and evocative love story about the magic and wonder of the ocean. Katty Maurey's softly drawn illustrations maintain the poetic feel of the text, while bringing to life the imagery of the seaside, adding a wonderful richness to the pages. This book would make a lyrical read-aloud that could lull young children into an appreciation for the peaceful joy found in nature. It also presents a compelling emotional component to why conserving our natural spaces is important, and would work well for any classroom science discussion on the environment or on the ocean as a habitat and ecosystem.
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$17.95

Kirkus

A lovely, quiet beach story.

Publishers Weekly

With depth and subtlety, Maclear (Julia, Child) writes about a girl who is taken on vacation to a place she resents, warms to, and learns to love. She's first seen curled up on her bed. "I do not want to go," she says. "I want to stay in the city with my friends." But though the water is freezing and the seashore is lonely, this new world begins to enchant her. "I used to call it the Specific Ocean until my brother corrected me," she confesses. At last, she succumbs. "I want this ocean to be mine," she says. "Mama has a snowy mountain in Japan, and Papa has the South Downs in England.... If I had my own ocean, I could let my thoughts swim free and dream of an underwater life." Maurey's (Francis, the Little Fox) pale gouache paintings shimmer with whites, pale blues, and greens; dreamy scenes of floating and swimming mirror the girl's drifting thoughts and emotions. Maclear and Maurey capture with finesse the mysterious process by which a physical place finds its way into the heart. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists. (Aug.)

Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3--A young girl doesn't want to leave her friends in the city for a summer vacation with her family at the ocean. But she goes, and after a few days of moping, she discovers the wonders of the sea and then only reluctantly departs at vacation's end. Together, she and her brother swim and watch the waves as they "shine, shimmer, gleam, glow. The ocean is so big that it makes every thought and worry I have shrink and scatter." The unnamed girl narrates her experience and changing moods in lyrical, sophisticated language. Initially she misunderstood the name to be the Specific rather than Pacific Ocean. But she realizes that the experience of being at the sea has changed her, and she's confident that she will carry this specific ocean with her: "Calm. Blue. Ruffled. Gray. Playful. Green. Mysterious," not unlike her feelings. Mixed-media illustrations use soft lines and a muted palette for an almost ethereal effect, successfully evoking the ocean and its wonders. VERDICT Though not for everyone, this is a handsome, evocative look at one child's formative experience.--Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

... this is a handsome, evocative look at one child's formative experience.—School Library Journal
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781894786355
Lexile Measure
560
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Kids Can Press
Publication date
August 01, 2015
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV029000 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | General
JUV039090 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | New Experience
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
JUV017000 - Juvenile Fiction | Holidays & Celebrations | General
JUV068000 - Juvenile Fiction | Travel
Library of Congress categories
Ocean
Girls
Family vacations

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