Searching for Seashells

by Jessie King Regunberg

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Searching for Seashells is an attractive, engaging, and well written book about seashells by artist/illustrator Jessie King Regunberg. Released 23rd April 2024 by Hachette on their Workman Publishing imprint, it's 128 pages and is available in hardcover format. 

The author is adept at portraying mollusks (and their shells) realistically and identifiably, and at the same time the illustrations are colorful and slightly whimsical. They're not hyper-realistic, like a lot of natural science drawings, but they are full of detail and color. The illustrations are arranged thematically from a general overview of the different classes of molluscs, through to the more specific genera, from top shelled species through deep sea snails (and literally everything in between).

The author has also included a short chapter on collecting, crafting, and storing shells. This is not a tutorial guide for drawing or painting shells; it's a book full of beautifully rendered artist paintings of different shells (and to a lesser degree how to collect, display, and use them). 

There is some amount of information on the biology of the different types of molluscs and where they live and their life cycles, but it's easy to understand and read (not difficult biology and no binomial Latin species names). 

Four stars. Attractive and well written. It's *not* a book for artists to copy or paint from. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.