Sea Turtles

Children's Literature

Until recently, teachers of children that are non- or beginning readers had to improvise when teaching about aquatic creatures. This meant anything from finding and mounting their own pictures and relating facts to using books meant for older students, putting the text into simpler sentences. Now along comes the "Under the Sea" series with a large format, colorful underwater photographs and word count per book of 125 words or less. The texts are well crafted, with special words repeated for easy learning. The size and shape of these books with their colorful attractive covers make them appealing to teacher and student alike. Not only do they have a consulting editor, but an educational consultant, a member of the Southwest Marine/Aquatic Educator's Association. This title, Sea Turtles tells about these reptiles that must breath air on the surface and migrate for food and mates. Underwater pictures show various turtles surrounded by fish that keep their shells clean. Best of all, the author compares the size range as from as long as a child is tall, to as long as a tall adult. Color photographs show a female leatherback on the beach laying eggs, and hatchlings running to the surf. Although it is careful to feature all kinds of sea turtles, it doesn't label them. Identifying specific species, in the case of most of the books would have been a welcome addition since young children often like to hear specific names. The book includes a simple glossary, a bibliography, a reference to FactHound.com, an age-appropriate and safe Internet site for further research, plus an index. 2005, Pebble Plus/Capstone Press, Ages 2 to 6.
—Judy Crowder