Suitable for children in Year 2 (age 6), A Watch by the Sea is from the Cambridge Reading genre strand Narrative Recounts, a strand which motivates children to explore their personal responses and make links to their own experiences.

Each story in this set of nine marks a significant event from someone's childhood.

Retold by Richard Brown, this story happened to Brigit Andrews when she was about eight, living by the sea in New Zealand in the 1950s.

A gift from her mother, Brigit loved her first watch.

It was small, gold and precious. One day Brigit took her watch off and left it on the beach whilst she went for a swim.

Will Brigit remember to collect her watch before the tide comes in?

Narrative recounts also provide excellent models for children's own writing.