A farm by the sea by Jillian Packer

A day in this girl’s life is vividly recreated by author/illustrator, Jillian Packer, reflecting her own childhood, when she lived on a farm near Port Lincoln in South Australia. Each page exudes the warmth of the family as the girl says good morning to all the people and animals that make up her day. She must do chores with the family, helping milk the cows, collecting eggs, helping Gran with picking the fruit, and so on, until she is chore free and able to go down to the beach. What a wonderful world is here before her. She and her dog, Maggie explore the beach and the small rocks nearby, they collect shells and seaweed, say hello to the little yellow fish that swim by, acknowledge the sea anemone, pretend they are dining together and dance in the shallows. As the sun begins to disappear, and a sea breeze cools the air around, she knows it is time to return home. She retraces her steps, saying good night to all the things she saw in the morning. In the warm kitchen, tea is ready and the family sits together, talking of their day, marvelling at the little treasures the girl has brought back from the beach. The day is done, and they sit on the front veranda looking out over the sea, then off to bed, lulled by the sound of the sea nearby.

This is a beautiful homage to the power of the beach, giving a child’s view of what she finds and how she spends her day. Reflective and mesmerising, the child fills her day unaware of time passing by. She measures her time by the sun, and when it begins to disappear she knows it is time to go home. An unhurried and treasure filled day is passed by the girl and her dog. 

The illustrations are wonderfully peaceful and involving. Filled with detail, kids will love picking out the things they might find at the beach and pore over the endpapers to list the things she finds.

Themes: Beach, Farms, Family, Relationships, Farm animals.

Fran Knight