Hello Ocean

by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Mark Astrella (Illustrator)

Spend a day at the beach, and take in the ocean through the senses of sight, hearing, feeling, taste, and smell in this lively romp through sand and waves. Glorious illustrations of water, sun, and sky accompany brief, evocative verses, making this a perfect keepsake of a seaside vacation or a striking introduction to the pleasures of a day by the ocean.

Pam Munoz Ryan drew on her childrens and her own experiences of the ocean in writing the poetic text of Hello Ocean. She is the author of many books for children, including The Flag We Love, California, Here We Come!, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride (Scholastic), and Esperanza Rising (Scholastic). She lives in Leucadia, California.

Mark Astrella lived by both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans while illustrating this book. He is the illustrator of The Desert Alphabet Book and The Butterfly Alphabet Book. He now lives in Hawaii.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nature, Summer, Poetry, Storytime, Spanish Literature

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Pam Muñoz Ryan is the author of the New York Times Best Seller, ECHO, a 2016 Newbery Honor Book, and winner of the Kirkus Prize. She has written over forty books for young people—picture books, early readers, and middle grade and young adult novels. She the author recipient of the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Award, the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, the Willa Cather Award, the Pura Belpré medal, the PEN USA award, and many others. Her novels include Esperanza Rising, Riding Freedom, Becoming Naomi León, Paint the Wind, The Dreamer, and Echo. She was born and raised in Bakersfield, California, holds a bachelor's and master's degree from San Diego State University and lives in north San Diego county with her family.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes indeed, Hello Ocean (penned by Pam Muñoz Ryan and graced with and by Mark Estrella’s glowing and luminous accompnying illustrations) truly and utterly delightfully present an opulent magical feast for the senses, and definitely for ALL of the senses. Poetically, lyrically, evocatively a young girl delightfully and glowingly textually describes how the ocean is her oldest and dearest friend, how she loves the sights, the sounds, the touch, the smells and tastes of the sea. And wow, I do feel myself so much and so completely immersed in and enveloped by the the author's presented narrative that with Hello Ocean I can almost literally see, feel, touch and smell the ocean myself (and can actually also and well imagine being that little girl, experiencing the waves, the sun, the scent of the salt wind, the touch of the sand, the squishy sea kelp on my bare skin). And yes, little girl's verbal images have therefore also become my own and personal images, she has become me and I have become her, and both of us have in Hello Ocean merged with the water, with the waves, with the magic of the sea and its surroundings.

And of course Estrella's accompanying illustrations are also equally wonderful, realistic, yet also at the same time magical, evocatively enchanting, showing, presenting on a visual and concrete, pictorial level the translucent, magical beauty of the waves, of the sky, of the reflection of the setting sun on the surface of the water. Estrella’s pictures provide a realistic and esoteric, delightful complement, a perfect mirror of and for Pam Muñoz Ryan's lyrical and descriptive poetic paean, and as such Hello Ocean glowingly and caressingly features a for the most part simply and utterly perfect and successful marriage of text and image.

However and that all having been said, and similar to what my GR friend Lisa has already stated in her own excellent review of Hello Ocean, the scene with the fisherman is (or at least might be) a bit problematic (in my opinion), and not so much in my opinion that the person is fishing, but rather that he seems to be fishing on a public beach where children and adults are swimming, sunbathing (not altogether safe, and also, smelling, for seeing freshly caught fish at a public beach is not an image or a smell I really desire to experience and remember). But aside from this minor little point, Hello Ocean is indeed a truly wonderful reading experience, redolent of the ocean, the beach, a picture book that truly endeavours to make the reader experience the seaside with all of his/her senses and in all of its glory (and also most definitively succeeds). Highly recommended, and not just for young children either (and by the way, Hello Ocean also seems to be available in both unilingual Spanish and dual-language Spanish/English editions, the latter of which I am definitely interested in trying sometime in the hopefully not too distant future).

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really lovely, realistic style illustrations. I thought they were really great.

The rhyme that makes up the story is okay, and did fit in a lot about the experience of being at the ocean’s edge.

The account of a girl (girls? as it looks like 2 or 3 different girls basically in the same swimsuit outfit) appreciating the ocean via her five senses will resonate with ocean and beach lovers.

I do wish dead and dying fish in a bucket along with showing someone fishing from the sandy beach hadn’t been one of the things she says she smells. I could have done without that illustration and the other odors are so much more universal of what I connect to how beaches and oceans smell. That example took the magic out of this book for me. Luckily for me, I don’t associate beaches with humans deliberately killing fish; we’re not even talking a pier here but someone who’s fishing right where other humans are swimming and wading. Weird. Most of the scenes are lovely though.

Ocean and beach lovers are likely to appreciate this book. This would be a fine book with which to introduce, discuss, and teach about the five senses; I could see kids eagerly giving other examples of seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling/touching, and tasting. The sense words are even shown in bold.

3 ½ stars, ½ star off for that dead fish & fishing scene

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poetic text and illustrations are so vibrant! The luminous illustrations almost look like photographs and capture the many details of the seaside, from early morning to sunset, sand and surf and shells -- and the girl's expressions are wonderful and so realistic! The story is told through poetry and is very evocative of the seaside. I really, really enjoyed this book!

One slight quibble is I did not particularly enjoy the bold type popping up suddenly for *see* *smell* *taste*, etc. I realize it's a book about the five senses, but I found the bold rather distracting almost as if it was shouting at me out of the poem. I think there could have been a more artistic way to highlight the words, maybe using a different font.

Also, having read other reviews, I agree with Manybooks and Lisa Vegan that there could have been a pleasanter scene than a fisherman and a dying/dead fish in a bucket and "reeky fish" as one of the smells of the beach :-(

Still, small quibbles -- it is a great book, on the whole!

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl spends the day at the seaside in this concept book from Pam Muñoz Ryan, experiencing the beauties and pleasures of the beach using all five of her senses. Narrated by the girl herself - "Hello, ocean,/ my old best friend./ I'm here,/ with the five of me, again!" it opens - the rhyming text offers a celebration of the sounds, sights, smells, tastes, and textural feelings of the beach, concluding at sunset, as the girl bids farewell to her "old best friend."

Chosen as one of our July selections over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is seaside/beach reading, Hello Ocean is a book I was looking forward to reading, given my enjoyment of some of the author's other titles, particularly her picture-book biographies ( When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson , Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride ). Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd expected (or even as much as some of the other group participants, it seems). I liked Mark Astrella's artwork, done in acrylic, although I thought his seascapes were stronger than his human faces. But the text just didn't do much for me, and I can see young readers being confused about what the opening "five of me" refers to, as it isn't immediately apparent, I don't think, that the author is referring to the senses.

Still, mileage varies, and this is an engaging beach title for younger children, with simple text and engaging artwork, so I recommend that parents and teachers looking for such titles give it a try, regardless.

[Crystal Marcos · Rating 4 out of 5]

My family and I just took a short trip to the seaside and I brought this book along to read to my 2 year old daughter. Since we have returned she has asked me to read it to her twice. I like the realistic illustrations of the ocean and beach. What we saw when we were at the ocean was very similar to what was illustrated in these pages (It was a bit colder here than depicted in the story so there weren't people actually swimming but there were some wadding). I would have loved to see someone in the pages flying a kite, especially since it looked like it was windy enough (We saw many kite flyers at the beach).

I like the way the story read aloud and flowed very well. It managed to make me sense the ocean. I think it is a great read for even the youngest of children. A wonderful story to read before a trip to the ocean.

Thanks again to the Children's Group for picking this title for this month's theme found here http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book about the ocean. The illustrations are gorgeous and the narrative evokes all of our senses. I love how the scenes depict a bright summer day - I almost needed my sunglasses! I got a pang of nostalgia reading this book, especially now that we live much further away from the seashore.

This book was featured as one of the selections for the July 2011: Seaside/Beaches books discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books group here at Goodreads. I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to read this book!

This book was also featured as one of the selections for the July 2019: Seaside-themed books discussion for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lyrical poem addresses all five senses in describing the wonders of the beach and ocean. I loved the photo-realistic acrylic illustrations; they help the reader visualize being at the beach with the book's characters. Very short, good for story time.

[Tatiana Giraldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rhymes in this book describe the unique experience of going to the ocean and using all the senses to describe it.

[Elizabeth Lyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nonfiction/Twin Text #5: Nonfiction selection: Oceans Alive by Amanda Li and Mark Robertson (Goodreads did not have this nonfiction book)

I paired the nonfiction Oceans Alive with the fiction Hello Ocean by Pam Munoz Ryan. While Oceans Alive provides the reader with detailed and interesting facts regarding creatures that live in the ocean, Hello Ocean is a poem in book form about what one might see, feel, smell, taste, and hear when at the ocean. For example, “I taste the ocean and wonder why its tastes like tears I sometimes cry. Sandy grains in a salty drink are best for fish and whales, I think.” Therefore, through the avenues of the five senses, the students might be able to get a true picture/feeling of what it is like to be at the ocean (for those that have never been to the ocean and those that have can discuss if they had similar or differing experiences). That is the non-obvious reason for pairing these two books, in order to deepen discussion, understanding, knowledge, sensatory learning, and experiences. The more obvious reason is due to direct referencing to animals in the ocean. For example, the author of Hello Ocean writes, “Reeky fish from waters deep….” Here we could talk about the animals we learned about in Oceans Alive.

Another great fiction book that I would pair with Oceans Alive would be Following Papa’s Song by Gianna Marino. This fiction book follows a Papa whale and his son traveling through the ocean. This fiction book references to actual facts. Similar facts are found in Oceans Alive. For example, the author of Following Papa’s Song writes, “’But Papa? How will we know which way to go?’ ‘We’ll follow the song of the whales, Little Blue, just like our family has for years upon years.’” Oceans Alive states, “It [the blue whale] communicates with other whales using squeaks, grunts, and whistles.” Additionally, Marino writes, “’Papa!’ said Little Blue. ‘How do you swim so fast!?’ ‘When you are big, Little Blue, your tail will carry you quickly, too.’” Oceans Alive states, “The end of the blue whale’s tail is as wide as a soccer goal.” Plus, Blue whales “can swim at speeds of up to 30 mph.” Also, Following Papa’s Song references to the depths of the ocean and Little Blue wonders what is down there. (“As they traveled, Little Blue dreamed of what lay below and saw a flash in the darkness.”) Using Oceans Alive, the student’s can find out and discuss real, interesting creatures that live in the depth of the ocean (i.e. the Anglerfish). Students would be able to make connections about Little Blue and Papa to facts found in Oceans Alive. All three of these books I would use in primary (maybe early intermediate) grades due to easy content level and subject matter along with easy vocab.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello Ocean by Pam Muñoz Ryan, illustrated by Mark Astrella is a beautiful concept book about the five senses set at an ocean beach. A girl experiences the ocean using her sight, hearing, feeling, taste and smell. It's also a celebration of a day at the beach by the ocean.

The descriptive text will introduce some readers to new vocabulary words. The rhyme and rhythm flow as do the waves. The large font and rhyme will make this a successful read-aloud for many young beach lovers. Dark, bolded type highlights the sensory words within the text. I did find myself confused for too long over the early allusion "the five of me" which refers to the five senses, and this will require explanation to some listeners.

The impressive illustrations are done in acrylics on airbrush paper. They are beautifully successful in the evocative seascapes. The two page spreads of the girl racing ahead to the water's edge, gazing at the wide open water, and listening to two gulls are very appealing to me, as are the one page looks at amber seaweed, tide pools, the "wet embrace of the surf" and the "pulling, pushing restless ocean." The faces of the girl were less successful and at the end it seemed to me that a different model is being used. The illustrations of the starfish, kelp, the shells, and splashing ocean spray are all evocative of the beach experience.

Some readers and listeners may object to the man fishing on a public beach from a safety viewpoint and to the mention of the smells of reeky fish.

Overall, this works well as a concept book about the five senses, and the evocative illustrations bring one back to the beach, with all its beauty and wonders. The story can be extended through many activities, including geography, study of animals, plants and shells, art and writing.

For ages 1 to 7, the five senses, beach, ocean, environnment, animal themes, and fans of Pam Muñoz Ryan and Mark Astrella.

[J-Lynn Van Pelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a young girl as she visits the ocean for the day. The book starts saying, “Hello, ocean, my old best friend. I’m here with the five of me again.” I didn’t understand what the five was in reference to until the story progressed and explained how the ocean and beach affected the girls five senses. The book highlights the words that relate to the five senses and the pictures to a good job of supporting the text. The text is also written as a poem and has a strong rhythm and a clear rhyme scheme that makes it fun to read. The illustrations are in acrylics an do a good job of capturing the ever-changing sea, but the little girl’s face sometimes appears cartoon-like.

[Amber Lewis]

This is a wonderful book for any teacher to have in their classroom library. It is about a young girl and her family spending the day at the beach. The book is written in a poetic form, and focuses on the five senses. A great feature is that the book is written in both English and Spanish, opening the door to use this book in a lesson with English and ELL students. Also, the figurative language used throughout the book can help students broaden their skills at becoming more creative writers. The illustrations in the book capture the reader's attention and draw them that much more into the book.

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: Hello Ocean
Award: None
Appropriate grade levels: 1st grade - 2rd grade
Summary: This book describes this girl at the ocean, she describes the color, the smell, what is in the ocean, what you can do at the beach, the taste of the water, etc.
Review: I would give this book a 4, I found that it was very descriptive about the ocean. I also liked that it had both text in English and Spanish.
Possible in class uses: This book could be read in both English and Spanish, another use would be to learn the Spanish word in the book by comparing the placement of the English word.

[Hannah Feeney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an awesome bilingual book about the ocean. It's what we see, hear, smell, and taste at the ocean. The book has beautiful illustrations that spread the page with beautiful visuals that have readers of both languages feeling like they're at the ocean. I love that you can see the exact translations side by side so you can begin to understand another language. It is beautifully written and a great read.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never seen a more beautifully illustrated children's book. My kids have always loved this book, even though we live far from the beach.

The story is written in verse and talks about the 5 senses, but it's illustrated beautifully. I would buy the book for the pictures alone.

[Alli Smith Hagerty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. The main character goes to the beach and describes what happens to all her 5 senses. I think this is a great book to focus an activity revolving senses around and could be very fun.

[Alexandria Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book for seeing the ocean and being with friends.

[مُنيرَة · Rating 4 out of 5]

«The sun dips down; it’s time to go.
But I’ll be back to see your show, hear the stories you have to spin,
taste your flavors once again,
take deep sniffs of briny air, and feel the treasures you have to share.
Goodbye, ocean, my old best friend…»

[Clarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A picture book about experiencing the ocean through the five senses.

[Books with my Boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 2 year old loved this one

[Henry Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very simple, too simple I think. Didn't really have much in it. It was really short an sweet but just repeated the same lines a lot which is fine

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Featured in a read with Grandma session. . .

RTC. . .

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, realistic illustrations in this lush book full of figurative language.

[Megan Piero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book about a young girl who spends a day at the beach enjoying every bit of it with all of her fives senses. The entire book is written in both English and in Spanish with the blocks of text right next to each other. The author, Pam Muñoz Ryan, does an excellent job using descriptive language in the book. For example, she writes "waves that pounce in rowdy play, tide that tickles with splashing spray". This book also has an excellent flow to it that reads more like poetry than a traditional picture book. I absolutely loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone!
As a teacher, this book could be used in several different ways. It could be used as a platform to teach students about the way we really use our five senses to take in the world around us. It could also be used in a language arts lesson about descriptive language or as an example of authors craft and what we notice when we read like writers. I could also use this book with my ESOL students because it can be read entirely in Spanish, or it can be read to English speaking students to expose them to a different form of Spanish literature they are most likely unfamiliar with. Really, the possibilities for this book are endless!

[Lisa Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

This concept picture book about the five senses, was a pleasant surprise when it came home from our Scholastic order last year. This book uses such descriptive words to describe the ocean through each of the five senses. After reading this book, I felt as though I had just been at the beach. The paintings in the book were so realistic and beautiful. This book also prompted my son to reminisce about his own vacations at the beach. I had to explain that the little girl in the begining of the story didn't come with five people, but that she came with her five senses. The book was easy to understand but also prompted my son to ask questions when he was unable to understand a word. Any book that can hold a child's interest and can provoke them to ask questions is of utmost importance. This is one of our favorite books!

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book attracted me with its title and the cover picture for I remembered my own early days when I was introduced to the ocean. Furthermore the words are easy to read and simple for any beginning reader.

The artwork is amazing, beautiful and very detailed. Each page is a full colored picture that illustrates what is being told in the story whether it is bubbly surf, spraying waves, sea gulls soaring the blue dish of sky or the glorious sunset of the day.

The best part is the memories that this book evokes in me for the girl doesn't just visit the ocean but she explores it with all her senses - sight, touch, taste, feel and smell. I can relive my own memories with each sentence although my memories are a little bit different with almost dried-up jellyfish that still stung, tiny fish nibbling at your toes, the hot sand and of course the ever-present ocean, my old best friend.

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this picture book for my kids quite a few years ago (2011? maybe earlier), probably at one of those book fairs held at the school. We go to the ocean every summer and I thought this would be nice to read to them before our next trip. Our version was in both English and Spanish, which was a bonus. The art work is lovely watercolors, and the text describes a young girl making her annual visit to the ocean and experiencing the beach with each of her five senses.

This is one of the deceptively simple picture books that you find yourself turning to again and again, and remembering even years later. Highly recommended for the young ones (and for the young at heart - my mother, who lives near the ocean, LOVES this book!!).

[Leslie Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book about a girl who goes to the beach with her family. The book is flooded with descriptive writing about the girl using all five of her senses to experience this glorious day at the beach. It's a really great book to use with our ELL students because the words are written in both English and Spanish. Being able to see the words in both languages right next to each other will help improve their English reading skills. The pictures are also vibrant and really show what is happening in the story.

[Christian Houseworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book to have in my classroom, especially for English language learners. This book is like a poem that highlights the five senses in context to how one would feel about the ocean. The book is written in English and in Spanish and the five senses are highlighted in bold in the book. As a teacher, I would use this book to teach descriptive language. This book could also be used to teach poetry and as an anchor to teaching the five senses. Overall, this is great book with beautiful illustrations!

[Eugenie · Rating 5 out of 5]

NY, Scholastic, 2002
This is a beautiful rhyming picture book. The bright illustrations enhance the text. The poem focuses on the five senses; each sense is highlighted as the verses progress.
"Amber seaweed, speckled sand
bubbly waves that kiss the land,
drying kelp and musty shells
I love the way the sea smells."
This could be a great addition to many types of lesson. I would use it to discuss the 5 senses to kindergarten students. The rhyming text is appealing and cheerful.