About This Book
by Kimberly Ridley
illustrated by Rebekah Raye
Estuaries form where river meets sea and fresh water mixes with salt. Teeming with life, these places of salt marshes, mudflats, and tidal backwaters serve as nursery areas for oceangoing fish, migratory stopovers for shorebirds, and homes for an amazing diversity of snails, bivalves, fish, mammals, horseshoe crabs, fiddler and blue crabs, terrapin turtles, plankton, and many others, all of whom we meet in the pages of this delightful book.
Narrated in the poetic voice of the estuary itself, and accompanied by natural-history sidebars about estuary plants, animals, and cycles, The Secret Bay is another topnotch nature book from the author and illustrator of the award-winning, bestselling The Secret Pool.
Praise for The Secret Bay
The Secret Bay offers young readers a charming introduction to one of earth’s most important ecosystems. Lively, kid-friendly illustrations and rhyming text draw in younger nature lovers, while well-chosen sidebars and back matter satisfy the curiosities of budding scientists. —Sneed B. Collard III, author of A Platypus, Probably and Fire Birds—Valuing Natural Wildfires and Burned Forests
Take a colorful and information-packed journey into the world of estuaries! Kimberly Ridley’s lively verses and well-researched sidebars pair with Rebekah Raye’s blue-hued, motion-filled watercolor illustrations to create a young reader’s perfect introduction to the secrets of estuaries. Nature lovers of all ages will be delighted. —Jeannie Brett, author/illustrator of Wild About Bears and Little Maine
The Secret Bay is a unique combination of storytelling in rhyme for young chil- dren, an essay on estuarine ecology for older students, and a field guide to our nurseries of the sea for all ages. Kimberly Ridley never forgets that the primary purpose of any book is to tell a good story, and Rebekah Raye’s illustrations provide a magi- cal complement. —Mary Cerullo, author, City Fish, Country Fish and Life under Ice
The Secret Bay is a treasure trove of kid-friendly natural history. Lyrical text and factual sidebars, along with detailed and colorful illustrations, invite the reader to explore this bountiful and vital habitat. Open the pages and smell the salt air and feel the ocean breeze. —Stephen R. Swinburne, author of more than 30 nonfiction books for young readers, including the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Scientists in the Field book Sea Turtle Scientist
Notable Features:
A stand-alone book and a stunning companion volume to Ridley and Raye’s award-winning The Secret Pool.
Ridley deftly augments the estuary’s lyrical narrative voice with sidebars about the plants, animals, and natural processes of an estuary.
Raye’s gorgeous watercolors reveal new features and hidden treats with each reading.
Back matter includes Great Escapes (how estuary animals avoid predators), and an author’s note about the challenges facing estuaries.
A perfect book for the budding naturalist and for his or her parents and teachers.
About the Author/Illustrator:
Kimberly Ridley (Brooklin, ME) is a science writer and editor whose articles and essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, Ode Magazine, Down East, and many other print and online ventures. Her picture book The Secret Pool (Tilbury House, 2013), about vernal pools, won the John Burroughs Riverby Award, Maine’s Lupine Award, and a Skipping Stones Honor Award.
Rebekah Raye (East Blue Hill, ME) is an artist beloved for her bird and animal paintings and sculpture. In addition to the award-winning Secret Pool, her Tilbury House picture books include Thanks to the Animals (by Allen Sockabasin), Swimming Home (by Susan Hand Shetterly), and The Very Best Bed, which she wrote as well as illustrated.