Overview
Sea Stars! Anemones! Sharks! Whales! The ocean is filled with exciting things and Izzy and her sister are determined to explore every bit of it! From beach to tide pools to murky depths-every creature is uncovered in full vibrant color and labeled clearly to help explorers identify their discoveries on future journeys.A great book for any reader who wants to wiggle their toes in the sand or dive right into the deep!
Synopsis
Sea Stars! Anemones! Sharks! Whales! The ocean is filled with exciting things and Izzy and her sister are determined to explore every bit of it! From beach to tide pools to murky depths—every creature is uncovered in full vibrant color and labeled clearly to help explorers identify their discoveries on future journeys. /DIV DIVA great book for any reader who wants to wiggle their toes in the sand or dive right into the deep!
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Following previous adventures in the city, at school, and across the U.S., adventure-loving Izzy visits a beach with her family. Izzy's exclamations appear in colorful, chalky font in the borders ("Wow! Beach!"), as she and her sister peer at a treasure trove of shells and tide pool species; plunge underwater to swim and scuba dive among rays, whales, and sharks (all labeled for readers); and have a tea party on the ocean floor next to a sunken pirate ship. Foldout spreads, an abundance of whimsical details, and bold artwork that lives up to Izzy's repeated "wows" make this a rewarding mix of fact and fancy. Ages 3–7. (May)School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2—Izzy is off on another adventure. This time, she and her family travel to the beach, where the girl and readers can gaze in wonderment at the detail that Neubecker incorporates into his technicolor double-page illustrations. In the same cartoon style as Wow! City! (2004), Wow! America! (2006), and Wow! School! (2007, all Hyperion), this outing weaves text labels with pictures of marine and coastal marvels. The spare text, "wow-worthy" illustrations, and a few foldouts will give youngsters much to look at and discuss as they dive into the ocean world.—Lindsay Persohn, Crystal Lake Elementary, Lakeland, FLChildren's Literature -
When Izzy and Jo leave their mountain home for a trip to the ocean, all they can say is wow! Readers join them in the excitement of their discovery of shells, tide pools, fish, rays, whales, sharks, jellyfish, the deep, coral reef, anemone, turtles, a sunken ship, and the ocean. Cover to cover the acrylic drawings in rich colors entrance the reader with mind-boggling detail. The encyclopedic labeling of common and uncommon living and non-living things found at the beach is a science lesson in disguise. Among the pages Izzy, Jo, and their tag-along crab-chasing dog dive with the rays identified as thornback, torpedo, giant manta, and butterfly. Especially fascinating are the two fold out pages—one for whales and one for the coral reef. Neubecker's books Wow! America!, Wow! City!, and Wow! School! would complete a library collection. Whether parents, teachers, or students are studying science or enhancing second-language learning or simply reading for pleasure, they will find this a must-have book for their shelf. Reviewer: Krisan MurphySchool Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2—Izzy is off on another adventure. This time, she and her family travel to the beach, where the girl and readers can gaze in wonderment at the detail that Neubecker incorporates into his technicolor double-page illustrations. In the same cartoon style as Wow! City! (2004), Wow! America! (2006), and Wow! School! (2007, all Hyperion), this outing weaves text labels with pictures of marine and coastal marvels. The spare text, "wow-worthy" illustrations, and a few foldouts will give youngsters much to look at and discuss as they dive into the ocean world.—Lindsay Persohn, Crystal Lake Elementary, Lakeland, FLKirkus Reviews
The excitement of the ocean world from the beach to the deep and all between is conveyed by the jam-packed illustrations in this celebration.
The text is limited to a sentence before the title page setting up the premise—Izzy's family goes to the beach—and captions for the double-page spreads—"Wow! Shells!" "Wow! Tide Pool!" "Wow! Turtles!" and so forth. Each busy, oversized spread contains a colorful framed illustration with numerous figures drawn with a heavy, black line. Each creature has an almost inconspicuous label. Even the frames are filled with color splotches. Two children, variously equipped with surf boards, masks, diving gear and submersible vehicles, explore these waters. Sharp-eyed readers will also follow their dog chasing the crab through each setting (even in the fishy endpapers). The author has chosen his creatures carefully, including many his readers will already have heard of (octopus, manta rays, blue whales, great white sharks) and more that will be new. These are not pictured to scale but are reasonably recognizable by shape and coloration. There's humor and fantasy (in the deep, the dog sprouts fins and a tail) but also plenty of solid identification information for readers who like to know the names of things. Izzy's enthusiasm will be familiar to readers of Wow! City! (2004), Wow! America! (2006) and Wow! School! (2007).
This ideal post–aquarium-visit souvenir has similar child appeal.(Picture book. 3-7)