Ocean life

Toddler-PreS--McDonald describes a variety of marine creatures, inviting young children to "dive in and take a look!" She devotes a spread each to whales, dolphins, sharks, an octopus, sea horses, crabs and lobsters, sea turtles, and jellyfish, offering a sentence or two about each species and a fun fact as a footnote. For example, after counting an octopus's eight arms, readers are told that "an octopus also has three hearts, blue blood, nine brains, and no bones!" With lively cartoon watercolors throughout, this inviting introduction to ocean life provides basic information for young nature lovers.

An ocean-themed entry in the Hello World series. A white youngster with long hair sporting a swim mask encourages little ones to "Dive in and take a look!" at ocean life. Each double-page spread presents a different marine animal, including whales, dolphins, sharks, an octopus, a crab and a lobster, sea turtles, fish, and jellyfish. Two or three conversationally conveyed facts of interest are included per double-page spread, one of which is usually in a smaller type and marked with an asterisk for obscure reasons. "What's that? It's a sea horse? It can quickly change colors to blend with the background, helping it hide from enemies," reads the larger text in one representative spread, while the text in the smaller font reads, "A sea horse father carries eggs in a pouch until they are ready to hatch." A trio of children, all of whom have light complexions, build a sand castle on the beach and collect shells to highlight the wide variety of the latter that can be found. McDonald's jewel-toned art has the look of watercolor and is appropriately watery and accessible. The final pages allow children to reflect on their favorite ocean animal as the art reviews all the creatures depicted. A gentle underwater excursion. (Board book. 1-3) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.