Corals

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-- Readers are taken underwater to witness the ``upside-down snowstorm'' that takes place when the male and female corals release their reproductive cells into the vast reaches of the sea. Sparkling full-color photographs fill every page, and a collage type of arrangement is often used imaginatively to contrast closeups of the tiny organisms with broad views of a reef, or the difference between corals dormant during the day and hunting at night. The image-rich writing describes their life cycle, and the photographs amplify the text for report writers and browsers. Some of the creatures that dwell peaceably in the reef are illustrated (but not named), as are some of the major enemies. A glossy addition to such titles as Berger's The Coral Reef, What Lives There (Coward, 1977; o.p.) and Ann McGovern's The Underwater World of the Coral Reef (Four Winds, 1977; o.p.). --Frances E. Millhouser, Reston Regional Library, VA