I might call this a concept book, because it focuses so directly on just the sensory experience of the beach. The corresponding-style illustrations are for helping me experience just what the words are saying. With the pictures, this might be enough to help someone who had never actually been to a beach imagine fairly clearly what it could be like (making the strange familiar). Because I have enjoyed some days at the beach, the book resonated and felt true to my memory (so it doesn't really make the familiar feel 'strange').
Thanks to goodreads, I see there was a 1996 book with this same title. It'd be interesting to compare them!