oceans

Review: Whale Shines by Fiona Robinson

| Tasha

whale shines

Whale Shines: An Artistic Tale by Fiona Robinson

Published November 5, 2013.

Whale is a living billboard, swimming slowly through the ocean with a poster to advertise the upcoming art show.  Along the way, he passes all sorts of sea creatures creating art.  The hammerhead shark is working on sculptures from sea debris.  Eel is forming lines in the sand.  Octopus, cuttlefish and giant squid were scaring each other to collect their ink.  Whale mutters to himself that he wishes he could make something too.  That’s when the plankton around him tell him to try.  But whale just can’t think of anything that he’d be able to do.  After all, he doesn’t squirt ink, and he can’t slither in the sand.  It’s going to take a lot of creativity and some risk for whale to even try creating art.

Robinson has created a simply gorgeous book here.  Her writing is lovely, slow-paced and languid just like Whale floating by displaying his advertisement.  Whale is a solitary figure in the story, lone and distant from the others.  As he drifts past, he is separate from everyone else.  Robinson successfully manages his transformation from wallflower to fully-engaged artist in a way that rings honest and doesn’t seem rushed.

Her art is lovely, filled with the deep colors of the ocean.  It is green and blue hues that shine.  Popping against those are the bright colors of the creatures and the coral in reds and yellows.  The result is a picture book with stunning visuals that truly evoke life underwater. 

A luminous picture book with glowing underwater scenes, this book will speak to all artists, even those reluctant to reveal themselves.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Review: The Shark King by R. Kikuo Johnson

| Tasha

shark king

The Shark King by R. Kikuo Johnson

Toon Books has mastered the art of graphic novels for early readers and this book adds to the depth of their offerings.  This story comes from Hawaii and this the tale of Nanaue.  He is the child of a normal mother and The Shark King.  His parents fell in love after his father rescued his mother from drowning.  When Nanaue was about to be born, his father left.  Nanaue was an unusual child, not only because he walked at such an early age, but because of a unique mark on his back that could open into a mouth and snap.  After meeting a boy and his father, a fisherman, Nanaue started to catch fish to eat.  He followed the fishermen to find food, eating so much that he drove them further away.  Nanaue was eventually discovered by the villagers and his mark was revealed.  They chased him all the way back home and even then he had to dive to safety in the sea.  The place that his father created just for him before he was born.

Johnson keeps this rather complicated story simple thanks to the use of the images to tell much of the story.  The snapping mouth on Nanaue’s back is shown rather than described, making it completely and immediately understandable.  The book moves quickly through the story, giving extra time to the beauty of the undersea world and the freedom that Nanaue finds there.

Done in panels that are ever changing in their design, the book has a sense of motion and speed.  Johnson manages to insert welcome humor into the dramatic tale without ever undermining the amazing tale he is telling.

A rich graphic novel for young readers, this book celebrates a little-known Hawaiian story.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Toon Books.

Review: Squid and Octopus Friends for Always by Tao Nyeu

| Tasha

squid and octopus

Squid and Octopus Friends for Always by Tao Nyeu

In a series of short stories, the friendship of Squid and Octopus is revealed.  Together at the bottom of the sea, they have a several cheery adventures.  In the first story, the two get into a fight over whether mittens or socks should be worn when the weather gets cold.  It turns out that both do a great job of keeping you warm and an even better one when shared.  The second story focuses on a dream that Squid had that gave him super powers!  The only bad thing is that he’s sad now that he’s awake and normal again.  It’s up to Octopus to show him just how super he really is.  The third story has a boot sink to the bottom of the ocean.  Octopus tries to figure out what to do with it.  In the final story, the friends have a fortune cookie but worry about what sort of fortune it might contain.  All of the stories have an innate and natural sweetness to them that is striking.

Nyeu’s storytelling strength is on display in this picture book.  Though the text is nice and brief to appeal to younger audiences, Nyeu doesn’t keep it too simple.  Instead he builds in warmth and depth with words.  Just a few extra touches make this book even more memorable.

The book is illustrated with Nyeu’s trademark simplicity and limited palette.  Using greens, oranges, yellows and blues, the colors are sherbet and deep sea.  Nyeu is also a master of white space, using the background almost as another color in his work. 

A delightfully sunny picture book set in the ocean depths, young readers are sure to find two new friends here.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books for Young Readers.

Review: Ocean Sunlight by Molly Bang

| Tasha

ocean sunlight

Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm

Following her Living Sunlight book, this continues the story of how the sun makes life on earth possible.  Here, the focus is on the ocean and the role that sunlight plays even in the darkest depths of the sea.  The story starts with photosynthesis and food chains on dry land, then moves to the water.  Bang asks where the green plants in the ocean are except for the seaweed.  Then she shows the tiny phytoplankton that make up the plants of the sea.  The food chain is shown and the book then turns to the darkness of the deep and how the food chain works even in blackness.  It is beautiful science. 

Bang successfully combines poetry and science in this enticing picture book. Her tone is inviting, inquisitive and filled with wonder at the amazing things that happen due to our sun.  The book is written from the point of view of the sun itself and how its energy reaches everywhere on earth.  It is a celebration of the sun and of the oceans themselves too.

Chisholm’s art ranges from the glow of the yellow sun to the black deep of the ocean.  Everywhere, even in the darkness, you can see the energy of the sun.  When the phytoplankton are displayed, Chisholm shows them up close in all of their wonderful detail.  Then the energy of the sun dances above the waves in yellow dots.  The entire book sings with energy and light.

This book is a tribute to science and nature.  It’s a readable and very understandable look at the complex systems that make our lives possible.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review–Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle

| Tasha

life in the ocean

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola

This picture book biography of biologist and oceanographer Sylvia Earle pays homage not only to her life’s work but to the incredible ecosystem of the oceans as well.  Sylvia was a biologist even as a child, sitting by the pond at their rural home in New Jersey and observing.  When Sylvia was 12, her family moved to Florida where their home was right near the Gulf of Mexico.  Sylvia started going to swims with her goggles on and watching these new creatures so different from the pond life in New Jersey.  As Sylvia grew older she ventured deeper and deeper into the ocean, meeting whales, spending 2 weeks in a deep-sea station, and walking the ocean floor in a Jim suit.  Sylvia Earle through her life and actions asks us to venture into the ocean too, spend time underwater, and explore beyond the 5% of the ocean humans have so far discovered.

Nivola’s text in this picture book can seem dense at first glance, but it is necessary to paint the picture of this ground-breaking (or ocean-breaking) woman.  The text reads aloud beautifully, flowing forward as it gives the small details that build to a life’s work.  It is a life spent outdoors, often alone, learning.  If you are looking for a picture book to inspire more exploration outside, this is definitely one. 

The illustrations in the book have a fine line to them, the pages filled with different blue hues as the water changes depth.  The ballet moves of the whales, the dazzle of bioluminescent creatures, and the colorful coral reefs all add to the range of the pictures.  Plenty of blue space is given to just water, allowing us to hold our collective breaths with hers and visit the depths too.

A brilliant picture book biography, this book is a winning nonfiction title for elementary students.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

For more information on Sylvia Earle, you can watch her TEDPrize winning talk or visit Mission Blue, a gorgeous website for the Sylvia Earle Alliance.

Reviewed from copy received from Farrar Straus Giroux.