Young Explorer's Guide to Undersea Life

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Painterly undersea images matched with a lyrical, informative text offer readers an inspiring introduction to the ocean's inhabitants in Young Explorer's Guide to Undersea Life by Pam Armstrong, illus. by Ket Tom Conway. Readers follow a sea star as it finds dinner (a mussel), while a purple shore crab "harvests a tasty salad of small green algae growing on the rocks." Scientific names are provided, as is a glossary of sea-related words. )

Children's Literature - Judy Katsh

Lush watercolors decorate the pages of this inviting introduction to undersea life. Each two-page spread informs the readers about a different species of life that depends on the sea. It is amazing how much information can be communicated with sparse text and bountiful art. Maybe not quite as much fun as a trip to Monterey Bay, but definitely the next best thing to being there.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-4A well-organized, beautifully illustrated picture-book introduction to Pacific marine life. Beginning with plankton, the smallest example, the engaging narrative introduces representatives of many levels of flora and fauna, ending with dolphins, gray and humpback whales, and orcas. Each one-page entry faces a watercolor illustration. Small drawings appear next to names and terms used in the narrative. The artwork is lively and colorful. It spills out over the borders exuberantly, moon jellies pulsing up toward the top of the page, a giant Pacific octopus slipping to the side, and the Wolf eel curving and bending open-mouthed toward the bottom. The text is easy to follow; using comparisons to everyday items and sizes brings an immediacy of recognition and relationship. However, the definitions in the three-page glossary are flat and unimaginative compared to the rest of the text and detract from an otherwise fine presentation.Frances E. Millhouser, Chantilly Regional Library, VA