Environmental Science & Ecosystems, Freshwater & Marine Ecology

Here Is the Coral Reef

Name: Here Is the Coral Reef
Author: Madeleine Dunphy
ISBN: 9780977379545

by Madeleine Dunphy, Tom Leonard

Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Overview

The "Here Is" series brings to life the coral reef, a curriculum topic that is studied in most elementary schools

Poetically cumulative text and illustrations capture the relationships between plants and animals in the ecology of the Great Barrier Reef.

Synopsis

Set in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, this lyrical rhyming tale introduces young readers to some of the coral reef’s most striking residents. From the sleek shark to the colorful parrotfish to the deceptively beautiful sea anemone, each creature in this abundant undersea world relies on another for its existence. Beginning with coral, the very element that defines this ecosystem, Madeleine Dunphy uses a cumulative approach, combining simple yet forceful verse with repetition to reveal the fragile chain that links each of the plants and animals in this unique environment. Tom Leonard's vibrant paintings capture this miraculous circle of life.

Children's Literature

As with others in the "Here Is" series, Dunphy describes the coral reef habitat with a lyrical cumulative text. It is a delightful way for kids to learn about the inhabitants of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The interdependence of life on the reef is reinforced with each succeeding page. For example, the wrasses live off of parrotfish, which in turn eat part of the coral reef. The bright, bold illustrations of fish, sponges, eels, and the like are depicted in each spread. It is a spirited and informative introduction to this watery world.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2Beginning simply with "Here is the coral reef," a cumulative text builds to describe various attributes of this colorful environment. With each turn of the page, the species of the reef are introduced along with the ways in which they are interrelated. First the corals, hard and soft, are pictured in beautiful purples, greens, reds, and soft blues. Next, three parrot fish are shown crunching corals, then several wrasses appear to clean the faces of the parrot fish, and so on, up to the appearance of an eel. Bright acrylic illustrations depict each creature, first in the distance and then front and center as it is introduced. Although the repetitive text doesn't sing, this vibrant, idealized picture of a southern hemisphere reef will grab and hold the attention of young viewers.Frances E. Millhouser, Chantilly Regional Library, VA

Kirkus Reviews

Set beneath the coral sea of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, this forceful cumulative rhyming tale introduces some of the striking residents of the coral reef ecosystem: "Here is the coral/of all colors and shapes/that lives in clear waters/in this vivid seascape." Each spread adds two lines of rhyme about another resident: parrotfish, wrasses, cod, clownfish, black-tipped reef shark, manta ray, Hawksbill turtle, remoras, Moray eels, anemone, and sponge. Some drama is inserted when the Moray eel must escape from a shark, but all ends well. The text appears on the left quarter of the spread, framed in a pale blue border. Leonard uses the rest of the space to present undersea paintings in a vivid, nearly neon palette. The artist varies perspectives, giving viewers the impression that they are not only underwater at eye level with the reef's inhabitants, but sometimes at tooth level. (Picture book. 5-9)