1. I would recommend this book to lower to middle elementary school students.
2.This book goes through a story of a girl who is blind and cant see the ocean. But she loves the ocean. It explains how her brothers get the window seat in the car since she can't see. It explains that when her family cant see the ocean because of fog that she can still see it because of its smells and sounds.
3.I might have this book in my future classroom. It isn't a super interesting book but it can be used to explain senses and inclusion to kids. ( )

I had mixed feelings about the book, See the Ocean, by Estelle Condra after reading it. First, I liked the book because of its central message. The main idea of this book is that sometimes, our hearts and minds can see things which our physical eyes cannot see. I thought that this book had such a heart-warming message behind it, which I liked. In addition, I thought that the illustrations seemed fitting to the written text since the oil-paintings give off soft and gentle emotions to its audience. On the other hand, I didn’t like this book because the plot seemed too bland and dull. During the entirety of the book, there was only one conversation which took place in a single car ride. There was no interesting plot or major conflicts involved. Because of this, it was difficult to focus and engage with the story. Considering that this is a children’s book, this book does not have enhancing features nor an interesting plot to grab the children’s attention. ( )

This is a great book for 2nd or 3rd graders to practicing their synthesizing skills. The way the book is written, by the end of the story it becomes something completely different that what it seemed to be at first. For the lesson this would be an easy book to talk about how as you read your thinking changes.

Ages:3-8
A Wonderful Children's Book that Shares the Magic of Unconditional Love, True Friendship that Every Living Creature Deserves and the Beauty of Diversity.
Source: class library

A beautifully illustrated and wonderfully written picture book about Nellie, a little girl that is blind. Estelle Condra, the author who has experienced a severe loss of her sight, has told Nellie's story in such a way that it will bring tears to your eyes. A great story for teaching children about those that are less fortunate than they might be. Nellie enjoys her family's annual trips to the ocean. She feeds crumbs to the seagulls, tosses pebbles into ponds, handles seashells and driftwood. There is no explicit reference to her blindness until the end when she claims to be able to see the ocean through a thick mist.