Coasts - Kay Barnham

This book introduces young readers to the different types of coastlines, from sandy beaches to rocky headlands. It looks at what waves are and how they can change the shape of the coastline. It shows how headlands, bays, beaches and natural harbours are formed. It describes the types of wildlife that live along coastlines and the people that live and work there. It also examines how coasts are being eroded and what is being done to protect them.

There is a list of 10 fascinating facts at the back of the book and a map showing where the places mentioned in the fact file are.

Words in bold in the text can be found in the glossary.

A combination of clear diagrams and large photographs help the reader's understanding of the text.

Kay Barnham was born in Barrow-in-Furness, grew up in Carlisle, went to college in Brighton, and lived in Hove for a while, before sailing for Kinsale, Co Cork, popping back to Hove and then moving to the New Forest with her husband and daughter. And never at any point has she lived more than ten miles from the sea. She began working in children's publishing in 1992. She was an editor first of all, working on illustrated non-fiction and learning fun facts like how long it would take to walk to the moon - nine years- and how to spell palaeontology. Next, she commissioned fiction titles, editing picture books, storybooks and novels. And then she got the chance to write her own books, which she thinks is quite the best job ever. Except possibly being a chocolatier. She writes non-fiction as Kay Barnham. Her specialist subjects include ice-skating, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, lightning, fairies, Roald Dahl, Sir Isaac Newton, Christmas, dolphins, Florence Nightingale and very bad cracker jokes. And chocolate.She also writes fiction as Kay Woodward, including the Skate School series for Usborne and the novels Jane Airhead and Wuthering Hearts for Andersen Press. Altogether, she's written about a hundred books. Her favourite colour is navy blue. Her favourite chocolate is 85% cocoa solids.