The Children’s Book Review | October 14, 2017
Ocean Animals: Who’s Who in the Deep Blue
Written by Johnna Rizzo
Age Range: 5-12
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: National Geographic Kids (2016)
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2506-9
What to Expect: Nature, Animals, Facts and Activities.
I am a big fan of National Geographic Magazine, but my monthly deliveries are always at risk of being pilfered if there happens to be an interesting-looking animal on the front cover. Luckily for me, there’s National Geographic Kids. Aimed at providing the same high-quality content at a level suitable for young readers, books in the National Geographic Kids series are both informative and enjoyable. Ocean Animals: Who’s Who in the Deep Blue introduces reader to the diversity of ocean life, from the rainbow hues of reef fish, to strange creatures like the blobfish and the gulper eel.
National Geographic are known best for their stunning photography, and their kid’s series are no exception. This volume includes everything from close-up shots to wide panoramic scenes, immersing the reader in the beauty of marine habitats and wildlife. The clarity of the images allow readers to see for themselves the different features discussed in the text, such as the unusual pattern of spots on the whale shark’s skin (p. 43), or the extraordinary whiskers of the walrus (p. 48). The beauty of the photography, in fact, means that it does not matter that the volume contains an immense amount of detailed factual information as well: while older readers can enjoy the detail in the text, younger readers can learn nearly as much just by examining the pictures in detail. The text itself is also reader-friendly, with fact boxes and image captions used to break up the information into manageable chunks. My preschool-aged body enjoy flipping through the pages, looking at the different animals, but for older children this book would also be an invaluable educational aid. Highly recommended.
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About the Author
Johnna Rizzo is a former staff writer at National Geographic magazine and an editor at National Geographic Books and the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler galleries. She is a frequent contributor to National Geographic Kids, and has written for Scientific American, Newsweek, and The Washington Post. Rizzo is the author of Ocean Animals: Who’s Who in the Deep Blue.
Ocean Animals: Who’s Who in the Deep Blue, by Johnna Rizzo, was reviewed by Dr. Jen Harrison. Discover more books like Ocean Animals: Who’s Who in the Deep Blue by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Animals, Fact Books, Nature, Non-Fiction, and Ocean Animals.
