To the Beach by Thomas Docherty

This is known as the 'beach book' in our house and it's our collective introduction to the magical world of Thomas Docherty.  

The story begins with a little boy staring out his window at a rainy day. From there our little friend takes you on a series of wild imaginary rides by air, sea and land to finally reach a wondrous beach with a camel as a playmate.  And when it's time to come home there's an equally exciting return journey and a promise of more adventure to come.  E happily settles in to read this book with me, turning the pages in a bit of a frenzy while shouting joyously as he encounters so many of his favorite things: airplanes, tractors, boats, monkeys, helicopters, bicycles... it can get rowdy by the final page. 

                                                                                 

The text is simple and the action is in the illustrations.  I think this is what makes it exceptionally popular for the two year old in my life.  I particularly like Docherty's technique for allowing each adventure to dovetail into the next by interweaving the illustrations. While you're in the air riding the helicopter you see a bicycle on the road below ... turn the page and suddenly you're zooming down the hill on the bike and there's a tractor in the distance. It's a pattern that's followed throughout the book and it encourages E to look closely at the illustrations and pick out the details.  

Visit the author's website to see more of his magical offerings: www.thomasdocherty.co.uk.