Claire Saxby (text) Alicia Rogerson (illustrator), Secrets of the Saltmarsh, CSIRO Publishing, November 2023, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781486317141
Saltmarshes are a valuable habitat providing food, shelter, and important environmental benefits to a wide variety of plants, animals, micro-organisms and the soil. Being tidal wetlands, they are washed and drained by the ocean and often edged by mangroves. Sadly, many have been drained and filled in for housing.
In this CSIRO information picture book, the different aspects of saltmarshes are described. Double page spreads show the ocean, the rain, the wind, the sun, the plant life, the birds, the small animals and the microscopic microorganisms. However, each of these is narrated in the first person so, for example, “I am a saltmarsh wetland”, “we are the little ones” etc. as the text progresses. This on occasion is a bit disjointed and perhaps makes the book less suitable for very young readers.
The illustrations are in beautiful colours reflecting the marine and land environment, along with a double page of life cycles. The front endpaper contains various birds while the end one has fingerling fish. There is also a glossary. There are not many books on this particular habitat, so this book is a complementary addition to environmental collections.
Reviewed by Lynne Babbage
