Skip Across The Ocean

Floella, Benjamin. Skip across the Ocean. New York. Scholastic Inc.1995.

A multicultural collection of 32 nursery rhymes, some of which explains their original languages--French, German, Spanish, Norwegian, Fanti, Luganda, and Yoruba--as well as in English. . . . Preschool. A collection of traditional rhymes and lullabies from different countries. Very beautiful pictures and so many rich rhymes to get the students thinking.

Water Music

Yolen notes that Stemple's . . . full-color photographs were the inspiration for these 17 poems on different aspects of water. Ocean surf, dew drops, soap bubbles, a river, waterfall, icicle, and reflections are among the subjects of the ocean. Great pictures very detailed story. Grade three and up.

Yolen Jane, Water Music. New York. Boyds Mills Press. 1995

Commotion in The Ocean

The sequel to the best-selling Rumble in the Jungle, this delightful new collection of poems includes fun rhymes about the creatures who live in and around the ocean. Children will delight in the snappy poems and colorful illustrations about whales, walruses, penguins, polar bears, stingrays, and sharks.

Anderson, Giles. Commotion in The Ocean. New York. Me Media LLC. 2002

Oceans

Water, water everywhere, and as Simon points out, more than 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered by oceans-one big ocean, and the continents are really islands in this vast body of water. The photographs include some taken from space and computer enhanced to show the terrain under the oceans and ocean currents, such as what happens when El Niño enters the scene. Illustrations demystify tides and wave action and Simon, a former teacher, makes his explanations quite kid friendly. A good introduction to oceans for kids and their parents. 1997

Simon, Seymour. Oceans. New York. Morrow, William and Company. 1997.

Alphabet Sea

Alphabet Sea is an alphabetical journey through tropical waters, with a captain, an egret, a jellyfish, a lighthouse, a pelican, and many more interesting sights to see along the way. Carolyn Spencer's rhyming text and David Harris's splendid color photographs make this an appealing book for young children who are learning their ABCs and for beginning readers. Ages 3-8.

Spencer Carolyn. Alphabet Sea. New York. Tortuga Book. 1999.

Beneath the Sea

Photographer Mark Blum executes a sterling idea for a book: a collection of stereoscopic images of deep-sea fish and reptiles, with 3-D glasses bound right into the book's cover. The result is an entertaining you-are-there tour of the ocean deeps that appeals to all ages. Some images are of places that are perilous of access, such as a submarine labyrinth off Borneo full of dolphin and turtle skeletons. Others, boasting populations of anemones and barracudas, are easier to get to--for anyone with an aqualung, that is. No matter where they're set, the photographs impart a wonderful sense of adventure and scientific discovery.

Blum, Mark. Beneath the Sea in 3-D. New York. Chronicle Books. 1997.

Ocean

This little book's outstanding collection of photos and drawings are supplemented with two levels of narrative. The large-type portion is quite brief and provides a summary of two pages of illustrations. The fine print goes into detail on the various individual illustrations. . . . The book has something to offer children from a wide range of ages and reading skills.

Mac, Quitty. Insider Ocean. New York. Firefly Books LTD. 1999.

The Rainbow Fish

Shining from Rainbow Fish's multicolored body are several shimmering silver scales. All the other fish in the ocean admire him and want to play, but Rainbow Fish is too proud to play with them; nor will he share his sparkling scales. Alone and friendless, Rainbow Fish soon learns that generosity is far more rewarding than vanity. Pfister makes novel use of rainbow-colored foil to create Rainbow Fish's scales.

Pfister, Marrcus. Rainbow Fish. New York. North-South Books.1992

Swimmy

Swimmy is a happy black fish who lives in a school of red fish until a big tuna eats all of his brothers and sisters. Lonely and sad, Swimmy searches the sea and finally finds another school of red fish. These fish are too frightened to swim in the ocean, so Swimmy comes up with a plan: all the red fish swim close together in the shape of one giant fish, and black Swimmy is the eye!

Lionni, Leo. Swimmy. New York. Knopf Alfred A. 1991.

The Whale’s Song

"Lilly's grandmother tells tales of singing whales who came from milesaway in answer to a child's desire to see them dance across the waves. One night, Lilly hears the whales and watches breathlessly as they 'leaped and jumped and spun across the moon.' Then, waking from what she thinks is a dream, she hears them call her name." (SLJ) "Ages five to eight."

Sheldon, Dyan. The Whales Song. New York. Viking Penguim. 1997.

The Hungry Ocean

YA-The story of a woman who attended college, worked on fishing ships, and became a fishing captain. Greenlaw's name came to national attention a few years ago in Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm (Knopf, 1997) when her vessel's sister ship capsized, losing all its crew. Here, readers accompany the captain and her five-man crew as they travel in calmer weather on the Hannah Boden from their home port of Gloucester, MA, to catch swordfish on the Grand Banks of the North Atlantic. The readable, straightforward account of the trip reveals the day-to-day regularity of steaming to the site, preparing, setting, and hauling in the four-mile long fishing line, followed by cleaning and icing the catch. This routine allows for about four hours of sleep per day and continues for two to three weeks. It's a demanding job and the necessary precision of tasks handled by the crew is astonishing. Interspersed throughout the book are chapters entitled "Mug-Up," which provide folkloric background about ships and fishing superstitions. A fascinating look at an unusual career.-Pam Spencer, Young Adult Literature Specialist, Virginia Beach, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Greenlaw, Linda. The Hungry Ocean. New York. Hyperion Press. 2002.

Oceanographers & Explorers of the Sea

Biographies of ten American scientists and pioneers of the study of ocean science make up this interesting book for young readers. Includes biographies of Robert Ballard, Eugenie Clark, and Allyn Vine. Undersea adventures with robot cameras, deep-diving submersibles, and laboratory experiments highlight the text, as author Kirk Polking discusses the technological advances that make underwater exploration possible, from the Titanic to the tiniest cells of sea creatures.

Polking, Kirk. Ocanographers & Explorers of the Sea. Enslow Publishers. 1999.

The Day Ocean Came to Visit

Wolkstein's (White Wave) lilting tale explains how the sun, moon and stars came to be in the sky. She imbues the narrative with gentleness and humor, as Johnson and Fancher (Copp lia) contribute the same spirit of quiet adventure. Sun and Moon possess human forms and softly luminescent heads, living a cozy, married life on earth in a large bamboo house. Sun "made their roof very high, because both he and Moon were very tall." Moon tends her garden while Sun "liked to travel." The artwork depicts the celestial man of the house riding astride a giraffe "to explore the world." One day, he invites Ocean, whose smiling face peeks out of the waves, for a visit and, in preparation for her arrival, he expands his house till it "stretched nearly as far as the eye could see." Children will anxiously anticipate Ocean's entrance, and both text and illustrations may well exceed their expectations. " `This way.' Moon pointed, trying to lead Ocean into the dining room. But Ocean flowed into all the rooms.... Turtles and fish and seals and dolphins were swimming about inside their house." The artists convey the couple's initial welcoming look as it changes to anxiety and panic, then finally to liberation when Moon finds a solution: they ascend to the sky where they have lived ever since and gave birth to the stars. This is poetry in both words and pictures. Ages 3-7.

Wolkstein, Diane. The Day Ocean Came to Visit. New York. Harcourt, Inc.2001.

Storm Boy

This folktale "tells of a chief's son who, caught in a storm at sea, finds himself in a world like his own but on a larger scale. The masked beings who greet him in elaborate Haida ceremonial garb treat him well. The boy learns his hosts' dances, and in return teaches them his own. When he misses home, the chief instructs him to grasp a staff shaped like a killer-whale fin, and to close his eyes. . . . Pulled through the water on the whale-chief's back, he awakes with his mother beside him. A year has passed in his village, though he spent only one night in the undersea world. . . . Grades two to six.

Owen, Paul. Storm Boy. New York. Ten Speed Press. 1999.