This Beach Is Loud!

PreS-Gr 1–In this much-needed new series, author/illustrator Cotterill shows the excitement and challenges of going to the beach for the first time. Wearing his snorkel mask, a young boy is packed and ready for a day at the shore with his father. At the beach they seek a spot to set up their day camp. On their way, the itchiness of the sand and the surrounding noises becomes overwhelming for the young boy, but soon, after being able to soothe himself with a couple of techniques, he is able to play. Many children will be able to identify with the stresses of a new experience, and Cotterill, on the spectrum herself, has deliberately left this open-ended so any child with sensory processing disorder (SPD) and/or autism can identify with the experiences represented in the book. Ink, charcoal, and block print offer composition and texture capturing the beauty of the day. Overlapping text helps distill the feeling of certain senses being overwhelmed. Throughout the book, she subtly shows tools the family uses to prep for new experiences and for when things become overstimulating, paving the way for dialogic reading and conversations for readers whether they’re neurodiverse or neurotypical.