Ocean Day

This photo essay will surely whet the appetites of winter-worn children longing for summer beaches. Rotner's crystalline, textured photos call to mind the rocky, grainy coast with its windswept patterns and bubbling foam and its exotic creatures--starfish, blue mussels, sea urchins, crabs. With a lean and sometimes poetic text (``Emily asked her mom why a fish was lying on the beach. Her mother said, `Tides come and go. The ocean gives and takes.' ''), little ones are allowed to drink in the photographs. This eyeful of summer light, shadow and color seems so true-to-life kids can almost taste the air and feel the sand between their toes--and then beg for a trip to the beach. Ages 2-6. (Apr.)