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Average Customer Rating:

A must have for anyone who spends time at the shore!

Customer Rating:

This book is so much more than your typical field guide. It not only helps identify different organisms, it explains how they live, interact, and function in the beach community. The photographs are superb, the text easy to read and entertaining, and the book has all the neat seaside critter "stories" that are so engaging: How starfish eat (oops, I mean sea stars - they extrude their stomach into their prey); How shells get those small round holes in them that make them perfect for stringing on necklaces (created by a Moon snail). Lots of ecology, life history and conservation. A must have for anyone who spends time at the shore!

photos are wonderful	Customer Rating:
The chapters are set up in an easy-to-read manner and the photos and their captions are great! The guide is a wonderful resource for novice and scientist alike. If you appreciate the Atlantic seashore you will enjoy this book.

the book I always wanted and never could find

Customer Rating:

When I get a chance to spend time outdoors in a beautiful place, I'm always drawn to a bookstore or library afterward to find out more. And I'm almost always disappointed. It's hard to find books about nature or place that are not too cute, too literary, or set up like a catalog. (No disrespect to people who like these formats.) A book that shows the relationships between things, at a reasonable level of detail, with a good but not overwhelming reference list -- that's heaven sent. The photos are nice-looking and informative without being so large that they drive up the price. It totally hits the "wow, I'd like to know more about that" spot. I wish I could find a way to say the following without criticizing other approaches, so again, no disrespect intended: It's not about the author's feelings -- or about politics -- or about some rigid system imposed by a remote university -- it's about the beach. Fun. Informative. Awesome.

Great book, excellent photography	Customer Rating:
A great book to bring along on your next trip to the Atlantic seacoast. Plenty of information on both flora and fauna. The scientifically inclined and the layperson alike will enjoy this book. What impressed me most were actually the photographs, they're worth the book's price alone. Dr. Shumway has an eye for composition and color that shines through on almost every page.

Great for families and homeschoolers

Customer Rating:

It's unusual to find a book with this depth of scientific detail that is nonetheless completely accessible to the non-scientist. Our family vacations near the Maine coast every summer, and we make day trips to the Massachusetts and Connecticut shores regularly -- this book gives us the information we need to really understand and enjoy what we're seeing as we explore tide pools and estuaries. Parents whose children are curious about what they find as they explore the beach will find this guide indispensable, as will home schooling families who are looking for an educational guide to the shore. You won't be disappointed!