Dolphins

Children's Literature - Judy Crowder

Dolphins are popular subjects for nonfiction books for children. Here is one more. This book, part of Scholastic's "Nature's Children" series, is packed with photos and introductory information about these marine mammals. The author answers basic questions such as, what do dolphins look like? With their sleek, torpedo-shaped bodies, they are the original Olympians of sea travel. Their flukes (tails), dorsal fin (on its back) and flipper enable then to swim and change direction in the water. Where do they live? Mostly in oceans, although a few live in fresh water. More importantly, how do they survive in their ocean worlds? The book includes information about how dolphins avoid being prey, as well as echolocation that helps these ocean dwellers know what's ahead—prey, or an obstacle to be avoided. Since most dolphins live in groups called pods the book discusses how these marine mammals cooperatively hunt together, as well as communicate. Colorful photo illustrations feature common types of dolphins, rare fresh water dolphins, such as the Amazon River dolphin, plus dolphin relatives; since they are a type of cetacean, or whale, they are part of a group called toothed whales and they are related to beluga whales, for example. Especially interesting is the first chapter, "Clever Creature," that describes play. According to the book, dolphins can playfully knock goggles off of divers, move a boat anchor to another location, or tease puffer fish to make them puff up. They can also play with "toys" made of seaweed, sticks or found objects. The book includes information on protecting dolphins, vocabulary words, a world map showing the bottlenose dolphin range and locations of the rare Amazon and Ganges dolphins, an index, plus a short list of books and web sites where readers can find out more. Reviewer: Judy Crowder