Review by Booklist Review
This heavily illustrated title contains a wealth of information about the fascinating science of ocean life. Readers will start off browsing the close-up color photographs and text boxes on every double-page spread, including sidebars that explain DNA, water pressure, chemosynthesis, and much more. But the focus of this photo-essay is the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year study, conducted from 2000 to 2010, in which international teams of scientists have explored the ocean from surface to seafloor, from deep-sea mountains to deep dark depths, and from pole to pole. Their amazing discoveries cover big-picture overviews as well as tiny creatures, and throughout the book, the chatty, informative text invites the reader along with scientists at work: scrunched inside a submersible that has just passed 1,478 feet, you're descending through a dark world few people have seen. Along with the 250,000 species that are presently known, there is also the lure of the estimated 10 or even 50 million more species waiting to be discovered, and students will find the remaining mysteries as compelling as the facts.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-From 2000 to 2010, hundreds of scientists worldwide participated in the Census of Marine Life. New species that they identified, such as zombie worms or yeti crabs, appear in amazing photographs that accompany quotations from scientists and descriptions of their research methods and findings at various ocean depths. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Drawing on findings from the decade-long Census of Marine Life, Johnson travels down into the ocean's depths, explaining living conditions in various zones and regions as well as the sophisticated technologies of data collection. Excellent color photographs showcase fascinating marine organisms and the scientists who found them. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
This strikingly illustrated book takes its readers on a series of research voyages exploring the ocean from its shallow edges to unfathomable depths during the recently completed ten-year International Census of Marine Life. Clearly organized text and pictures combine to introduce newly discovered marine creatures of all kinds: the Big Red jellyfish, with a bell the size of a door; mussels surrounding deep brine pools and feeding on methane-eating bacteria; zombie worms on a whale skeleton. Readers are invited to imagine diving in open water, exploring continental slopes inside a submersible vehicle, sorting through muck from the ocean bottom and sitting in a shipboard control structure watching displays from a remotely operated underwater vehicle. The excitement and challenge of discovery is tangible. Scientific photographs printed on blue-to-black background (darkening as the text descends into the depths) illustrate animals mentioned in a nicely legible text, mostly printed in white. There are clear captions, quotations from involved scientists and sidebars explaining important concepts like bioluminescence and chemosynthesis. Diagrams indicate where the voyage takes place. Rich, revealing and rewarding. (glossary, source notes, selected bibliography, suggestions for further learning, index, acknowledgements)(Nonfiction. 8-14)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
