Windward Publishing

Before visitors arrive with their blankets and radios and suntan lotion, the beach is a wild place. In this book, a girl and her dog explore the natural landscape in the quiet of early morning. They watch seabirds circling the dunes and the ocean uncurling on the sand, while gulls laugh and a cool breeze rich with sea smells washes over them. Through encounters with a ghost crab, sea oats, whelks, and many other fascinating plants and animals, the girl and her dog witness the wild world that goes unnoticed by many daytime visitors to the beach.

The author Marion Coste is a former elementary school teacher, college instructor, and museum administrator. She spent every summer of her childhood at a beach in New Jersey. Marion is the author of five other children's books.

The illustrator Cissy Gray is a former college instructor currently teaching art and working as a professional painter and illustrator. Cissy researched and painted the images for Wild Beach on location on Kiawah Island and the Isle of Palms in South Carolina.

Visit Marion Coste's website at www.marioncoste.com!

• Age level of readers - 5 years and up