Secrets of the Seashore: A Shine-a-Light Book

The biodiversity of tide pools is illuminated—literally—in this concept book, a companion to 2013’s Secrets of the Apple Tree. Shining a flashlight behind each of Nassner’s pastel-colored spreads reveals animals from the subsequent page, causing starfish and crustaceans to materialize in a tide pool or a group of barnacles to seem to cling to a rocky outcropping. Brown’s text hints at the animals’ identities, giving the book something of a guessing-game quality: “Another animal with suckers is resting in the tide pool. Can you count its eight arms?” A diverting interactive introduction to several coastal species, from otters to oystercatchers. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)