Waves Sand Magic

“Why do you always write magic in the sand of every beach you go to?” he asked as he watched her finger move through the sand in a rhythm writing the word. She smiled and said, “Because there is magic in the sand.” “What do you mean?” he further asked. “When you feel the sand under your feet,” she scrunched up her toes in the sand as she spoke. “And feel every granule of it, the noise of your thoughts suddenly sound like the waves. Just like magic.” Me

A magical day happens in the sand in the sun on the shore when a young boy builds a magnificent sandcastle. When night time arrives, all of that changes. See what happens when the strong, fast waves wash the castle out to the bottom of the ocean.

Publisher Description

A brave, intimate, beautifully crafted memoir by a survivor of the tsunami that struck the Sri Lankan coast in 2004 and took her entire family. On December 26, Boxing Day, Sonali Deraniyagala, her English husband, her parents, her two young sons, and a close friend were ending Christmas vacation at the seaside resort of Yala on the south coast of Sri Lanka when a wave suddenly overtook them. She was only to learn later that this was a tsunami that devastated coastlines through Southeast Asia. When the water began to encroach closer to their hotel, they began to run, but in an instant, water engulfed them, Sonali was separated from her family, and all was lost. Sonali Deraniyagala has written an extraordinarily honest, utterly engrossing account of the surreal tragedy of a devastating event that all at once ended her life as she knew it and her journey since in search of understanding and redemption. It is also a remarkable portrait of a young family's life and what came before, with all the small moments and larger dreams that suddenly and irrevocably ended.

From individual grains to desert dunes, from the bottom of the sea to the landscapes of Mars, and from billions of years in the past to the future, this is the extraordinary story of one of nature's humblest, most powerful, and most ubiquitous materials. Told by a geologist with a novelist's sense of language and narrative, Sand examines the science—sand forensics, the physics of granular materials, sedimentology, paleontology and archaeology, planetary exploration—and at the same time explores the rich human context of sand. Interwoven with tales of artists, mathematicians, explorers, and even a vampire, the story of sand is an epic of environmental construction and destruction, an adventure in staggering scales of time and distance, yet a tale that encompasses the ordinary and everyday. Sand, in fact, is all around us—it has made possible our computers, buildings and windows, toothpaste, cosmetics, and paper, and it has played dramatic roles in human history, commerce, and imagination. In this luminous, kinetic, revelatory account, we do indeed find the world in a grain of sand.

Annie and the Waves is a book aimed to teach children and their caregivers about how to stay safe at the beach. As you read this book you will learn: Surf lifesavers wear red and yellow You should always swim between the red and yellow flags Some beaches are safer than others There are different kinds of waves, some are safer than others If you get into trouble, stay calm and raise your hand to show the surf lifesavers you need help. Be sun safe at the beach. Wear a hat and a rashie and don't forget to put on sunscreen before you go out in the sun And..... You should never go into the water alone!

Longlisted for the National Book Award "Mind-blowing." —Kim Gordon DEADPAN, EPIC, AND SEARINGLY CHARISMATIC, A Sand Book chronicles climate change and climate grief, gun violence and bystanderism, state violence and complicity, mourning and ecstasy, sex and love, and the transcendent shock of prophecy, tracking new dimensions of consciousness for our strange and desperate times.

How many times can you be hurt, before you stop being willing to love? In this third title in the Mesuline’s Daughters mermaid trilogy, Nerine has lived most of her life on her own terms – even though it meant being isolated and not being with the man she loved. As a mermaid/lamia mix and wearer of the Stone of Love, her life is complicated in so many ways that she finds it best to handle everything herself. Especially when it comes to caring for the people who live on Azov, the island she helped create for others of mixed blood who were rejected by their communities. And then, mortally injured, Fiero comes back into her life. The man who’s always had her heart. Fiero, known to most as a Sea Dragon because of his mermaid/kelpie heritage, believed everyone he cared for had either abandoned or left him. After a misguided attempt to control the Stones of Power, the one person he thought he could trust committed the ultimate betrayal. Now Fiero is determine to heal so he can have his vengeance. First, however, he has to figure out who the mysterious and beautiful woman caring for him is. Although Nerine and Fiero share a connection that cannot be broken, they also have reasons to guard their feelings and not let others help them. But if a threat to the safety of the Oceans is to be conquered they will each have to risk everything – and work with those who fear them – or the future they want for themselves and others will be destroyed.

A 'big-book' edition of Alison Lester's all-time favourite Australian beach book, perfect for library and classroom storytimes.