Hello, Fish!: Visiting the Coral Reef ANNOTATION
An underwater explorer takes a tour of the ocean and introduces such fish as the damselfish, red lipped batfish, and brown goby.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
An underwater explorer takes a tour of the ocean and introduces such fish as the damselfish, red lipped batfish, and brown goby.
FROM THE CRITICS
Boston Globe
An internationally known marine biologist explores and explains the characteristics of some fish living on a coral reefᄑthe full page, large photographs are spectacular. A book that will pique the curiosity of young naturalistsᄑ
Bulletin of the Center for Childrens Books
Young readers are invited into an undersea world of fish and other marine life in this photographic introduction to the coral reefsᄑEarle's text is simply and succinctly informativeᄑHenry's superb color photographs of morays, brown gobys, sharks, damselfish, and others are composed like portraits, providing a remarkably up-close look at a remarkable variety of marine life. Both format and layout make this a strong non-fiction choice for both reading aloud to groups and individual beginning readers...
Children's Literature - Joan Carris
Although the text is a little uneven, this picture book is a good introduction to some of the more unusual fish that live in and around a coral reef. Sylvia Earle explains briefly how a reef is formed, and then continues through glorious double spreads to introduce 12 intriguing reef-dwellers like the tiny goby, the spotted moray eel (pretty scary), the clown-fish, the silver-tip shark (also darn scary), and so on. The information is fascinating, but some of the pictures could give a young child the heebie-jeebies. (Of course, today's kids are tougher...or are they? Parents would need to decide.)
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 4-Vivid, full-color photographs and brief text introduce 12 fish that occupy the waters around coral reefs. On each double-page spread, a framed block of text names the featured animal, provides a whimsical introductory statement (e.g., "Graceful, gentle creatures, rays glide/Through the sea like giant butterflies"), and describes its appearance or behavior in a few sentences. Illustrations of lovely, shadowy fish swimming against creamy, yellow pages form backdrops for the narrative, drawing the eye in an attractive counterpoint to the dramatic photos. A short introduction describes coral reefs and includes a map indicating their locations. Henry's stunning photography magnifies some of the fish, belying the actual small size of the gobies and damselfish. Though the information is minimal, Earle injects a bit of her personal experience as a diver and scientist: "When provoked, damselfish will chase away creatures many times their size-even me!" Bold and beautiful, this selective but inviting view of reef animals is a simpler introduction to coral reefs than Norbert Wu's more informative and also striking A City under the Sea (Atheneum, 1996) or Laurence Pringle's Coral Reefs (S & S, 1995).-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston