Poetry - Assorted Topics, Children - Animals, Children - Fiction & Literature

Commotion in the Ocean

Name: Commotion in the Ocean
Author: Giles Andreae
ISBN: 9781589253667

by Giles Andreae, David Wojtowycz

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Overview

The sequel to the best-selling Rumble in the Jungle, this delightful new collection of poems includes fun rhymes about the creatures who live in and around the ocean. Children will delight in the snappy poems and colorful illustrations about whales, walruses, penguins, polar bears, stingrays, and sharks.

A collection of silly verses about various creatures that live in the ocean, including crabs, swordfish, whales, and polar bears.

Synopsis

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-A mediocre collection of rhymes featuring different ocean animals. "The crab likes walking sideways/And I think the reason why,/Is to make himself look sneaky/And pretend that he's a spy." Although the poems are short, the vocabulary will occasionally be difficult for beginning readers. The opening and closing poems state that the book explores animals that live "beneath the sea," and yet polar bears and penguins are included. The brightly colored cartoon art is playful, but uninspired. Stick with Douglas Florian's In the Swim (Harcourt, 1997) for more creative writing and clever watercolor illustrations.-Robin L. Gibson, Muskingum County Library System, Zanesville, OH

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Editorials

School Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

The round glass of a submarine porthole provides a window through which the animals of the ocean can be spied upon in all their "commotion." Crab, turtle, dolphin, jellyfish, shark, and more come under the scrutiny of Andreae, who gives each one a rhyming stanza or limerick that is often sing-song. Attributes of each creaturesþa shark's big mouth, a dolphin's sounds, a swordfish's skewerþprovide the subject matter, but the treatment is humorous, not scientific. The arms of the mother octopus enable her to tickle all of her children on their stomaches simultaneously; a crab's sideways movements turn him into a sneaky spy. The illustrations further anthropomorphize the undersea creatures, giving each one curly eyelashes and smiling faces. The only innovation here is a poem about barnacles written in tiny type on the underside of a blue whale, as if the words themselves are clinging to the giant. Otherwise, this British import is ordinary and often amateurish. (Picture book. 3-6)