Review by Booklist Review
Similar in concept to Guiberson and Spirin's The Greatest Dinosaur Ever (2013), this handsome book presents a variety of fascinating ocean animals, from the anglerfish to the vampire squid. Speaking in first person, each one tells why it is the most amazing creature in the sea Twelve species vie for that title, along with one aggregate group called helpers (oysters, sea urchins, coral, krill, etc.) that play crucial, though perhaps less dramatic, roles in ocean ecology. Each double-page spread introduces a different contender boasting of its remarkable feats and features in a few lines of text, including passages such as, I can tie myself into a knot to squeeze slime off my body. I burrow into dead creatures for a meal and leave the bones for the zombie worms. With short paragraphs that read aloud very effectively and richly colored, intricately detailed paintings that look their best from a little distance, this picture book is well designed for sharing with groups of children. A natural for classroom science units.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In their fourth collaboration, Guiberson and Spirin echo the format of 2013's The Greatest Dinosaur Ever as a dozen aquatic creatures take turns claiming to be the "most amazing creature in the sea!" Each animal describes itself vividly and evocatively: "Predators don't stand a chance against my powers of evasion," boasts a vampire squid. Spirin's always lush illustrations go beyond naturalistic detail to give the subjects a dignity and majesty: a trio of 5,000-pound ocean sunfish, the "heaviest bony fish in the world," have the glow of Renaissance putti, while a mimic octopus's copper-and-cream tentacles unfurl languidly across an inky blue seascape. Readers will enjoy debating who deserves the coveted title-perhaps the utterly alien hagfish or the blue whale, which "takes in 17,000 gallons of food-filled water in a single mouthful"? An awe-inspiring look at ocean biodiversity that revels in the significance of every animal. Ages 4-8. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-Handsome, softly realistic illustrations depict an assortment of ocean dwellers, each accompanied by a brief paragraph full of interesting factoids as each creature proclaims itself "the most amazing creature in the sea." A wide variety of oceanic life unfolds in the images, which brim with details, from the blue blood of the vampire squid to the natural antifreeze of the wolffish and the gelatinous slime of the hagfish. Other creatures depicted in these hauntingly vivid visuals include a toothy anglerfish, a massive leatherback turtle, and a leafy sea dragon. The final spread is devoted to the lesser fry that keep the oceans-and other fish-clean: the filterers, the alga-eaters, the reef-building corals, and the wrasse. An author's note on the importance of preserving these species is accompanied by a brief bibliography. Pair this with Erich Hoyt's more difficult Weird Sea Creatures (Firefly, 2013) and Sylvia Earle's Sea Critters (National Geographic, 2000). VERDICT An eye-catching jumping-off point for further investigation.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY © Copyright 2014. 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
Thirteen sea creatures describe their unique looks and habits, and ask readers to decide which is most amazing: e.g., the box jellyfish with twenty-four eyes and no brain or the leatherback sea turtle that can hold its breath for eighty-five minutes? Paintings in yellow-greenish tones evoke the denizens' mysterious underwater habitat. An author's note with a conservationist slant is appended. Websites. Bib. (c) Copyright 2015. 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
Who is the most amazing creature in the sea? Following the format of their The Greatest Dinosaur Ever (2013), Guiberson and Spirin offer answers to that question from a dozen amazing sea creatures, plus a passel of helpers. Paintings on double-page spreads show each animal in its likely habitat. In text running across the bottom of the spread, each creature, from box jellyfish to wolffish, explains why it deserves the "most amazing" title. These short justifications are full of the kinds of facts children love. The leatherback sea turtle dives deepest, the shape-changing mimic octopus is a "master of disguise," a female anglerfish sees and eats on behalf of the males it has absorbed, and so forth. After introducing the most venomous, most evasive, slimiest, most frost-resistant, and most enormous creatures, the author surprises by describing some of the smallest: the menhaden, oysters, sea urchins, coral, remora, wrasse, and krill who keep the fish and their waters clean and feed the larger jellies, cephalopods, fish, turtles, and whales. The illustrations, created with tempera, watercolor, and pencil and emphasizing shades of green and brown, evoke the mystery of the ocean depths, a concept reinforced in a concluding author's note. Inviting their readers to choose the answer themselves, this skillful author-illustrator pair again encourages their senses of wonder at the natural world. (Informational picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
