Seashells More than a home

Melissa Stewart

Book - 2019

"This book sheds a surprising light on how seashells--the hard, protective outer layer that mollusks inhabit--serve tremendous purpose. This large group of marine animals needs shells for protection, feeding, transportation, anchorage, and more."--

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Subjects
Genres
Picture books
Instructional and educational works
Published
Watertown, MA : Charlesbridge [2019]
Language
English
Main Author
Melissa Stewart (author)
Other Authors
Sarah S. Brannen (illustrator)
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 23 x 29 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9781580898102
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

In this handsome companion volume to the ALA Notable book Feathers: Not Just for Flying (2014), Stewart and Brannen provide insights into why seashells vary so greatly in shape, size, and color. Beyond providing protection for aquatic animals, shells sometimes offer forms of locomotion, disguise, warnings, tools, and waste removal. A double-page spread on the nautilus opens, Seashells can rise and sink like a submarine, and explains that the animal creates vertical movement by pumping in or releasing water from its spiraled shell, which has chambers containing a lightweight gas. A marine-blue underwater scene features a close-up of a nautilus with a dark gray submarine visible in the distance, while a separate drawing of the nautilus shell points out its gas chambers and the movement of water. The large-print text that runs across the tops of the pages makes excellent use of similes, while short, clearly written paragraphs of pertinent information appear below the illustrations. From the book jacket to the typefaces to the layouts, the book's design is inviting. The beautiful watercolor paintings work seamlessly with the text to clarify concepts while keeping the book's audience in mind. Suggesting new ways to think about seashells, this volume is highly recommended for science collections.--Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 4-A well-researched addition to the ocean biome canon, Seashells is unique in that it pairs form with function. Both the text and illustrations present information that is easy to digest and understand. Introducing the concept that seashells come in various shapes and colors due to their different jobs, the author and illustrator then launch into examples such as the scallops that can flit like a butterfly. This is paired with an illustration of a butterfly, a diagram of a shell and how its movement mirrors a butterfly, the shell in its environment, and corresponding text. The language is not too informational or too -poetic; it is just the right amount of colorful and interesting. An appendix of sorts and additional resources are included. VERDICT A delightful addition to an elementary library's nonfiction collection.-Amanda C. -Buschmann, Carroll Elementary School, Houston © Copyright 2019. 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 Kirkus Book Review

What is a seashell?"Every day, seashells wash up on beaches all over Earth, like treasures from a secret world beneath the waves." But how are they alike, and how are they different? How do shells work? What can they do? Accessible and detailed watercolors accompany general, simile-heavy statements elaborated with brief, factual paragraphs and charts of interesting informational tidbits. They explain some of the variations seen in attributes of seashells, including their buoyancy, how they open and close, and some of the different ways that they act as camouflage. The text doesn't provide explicit information about what a mollusk is until the final pages, and the general statements use the word "seashell" interchangeably to describe both the outer shell and the creature within, which sometimes results in inaccuracy. Seashells don't "send out warnings like the signal from a lighthouse," for example; it's the mollusks inside them that do. Still, curious youngsters will find food for thought and have much to ponder and observe as they examine the pages, and they'll have new things to look for the next time they return to the beach.An imperfect but pleasant introduction to the world of shells. (Informational picture book. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Every day, seashells wash up on beaches all over Earth, like treasures from a secret world beneath the waves. Spiraled or spiky, round or ridged, shells come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and all the colors of the rainbow. That's because seashells have so many different jobs to do             Seashells can rise and sink like a submarine . . .             A nautilus floats because most of its shell is filled with a lightweight gas. To dive down it pumps water into its shell. When the nautilus wants to rise toward the surface, it lets water flow out of its shell. Excerpted from Seashells: More Than a Home by Melissa Stewart All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.