Fish Faces

A fierce cat shark. A coy parrotfish. Two serene sergeant majors. Who would believe that underwater creatures come in so many different shapes and sizes? Some are beautiful, some are monstrous—all are fascinating. A fun, rhythmic text and sharply detailed full-color photos introduce over 70 of these intriguing creatures.

The author-photographer, a marine biologist, uses his own photographs to introduce readers to some of the more amusing characteristics of the creatures he's encountered on his dives.

A fierce cat shark. A coy parrotfish. Two serene sergeant majors. Who would believe that underwater creatures come in so many different shapes and sizes? Some are beautiful, some are monstrous--all are fascinating. A fun, rhythmic text and sharply detailed full-color photos introduce over 70 of these intriguing creatures.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 3-- A brief alliterative, rhythmic text accompanies a host of brilliant full-color photos. The slight text contains some minor quirks. For instance, ``A nose that shines in the dark!'' refers to the luminous fleshy proturberance on the snout of a deep-sea anglerfish. Also the fish on the back cover is not a guineafowl puffer as indicated in the notes. More irksome are such nonscientific phrases as ``Faces that are friendly'' and ``Faces that are fierce.'' Some of the small inset photos lose their definition when placed against multicolored backgrounds, but the others are in clear contrast to the vivid blues and greens of a wavering, watery world. Despite these minor carps, the glowing photos and simple text provide a rare look at some strangely shaped and/or brightly colored ocean dwellers for young readers. A final page names all the fish depicted, page by page, but the pages aren't numbered, and no further information or description is given. --Patricia Manning, Eastchester Public Library, NY

Norbert Wu is an independent photographer and filmmaker who specializes in marine issues. He has taken photos in nearly every conceivable underwater locale and is the recipient of National Science Foundation Artists and Writers Grants and a Pew Marine Conservation Fellowship, the world’s only prize dedicated to marine conservation. The author of several books, including Fish Faces, Mr. Wu lives near Monterey, California.