Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--3--In Hare's follow-up to Field Trip to the Moon, a class visits the depths of the ocean in a yellow submarine. Once they arrive, they suit up in silver diving suits with oxygen tanks, like contraptions from a Jules Verne novel. One student takes pictures of all he sees with a deep-sea camera. Seeing things only through this lens, he becomes separated from the group. Exploring on his own, he is crawled upon by friendly giant isopods, cockroachlike creatures similar to the insect companion in Wall-E. He befriends a giant sea creature. And he accidentally topples some underwater ruins. Don't worry, he and his Pliosaur friend rebuild them shortly before his teacher returns to claim him. The teacher--depicted on the cover--is Black, and the lost student is as well, although his face isn't seen until the final page. The whole class is concealed in their opaque dive suits for the entirety of the story. Hare's artwork is ingeniously composed and brilliantly colored, which is necessary for a wordless tale. The divers have spotlights on their helmets, which beautifully illuminate the dark waters of the ocean floor. The mythical Pliosaur is a rich red and orange color that exquisitely contrasts the deep sea blues. At the end, the student presents his photographs, which show the various creatures from the young photographer's perspective. Back matter includes an illustrated cross-section of the submarine and the diving suit, sure to set little engineers' minds ablaze with creativity. VERDICT This book is a gateway to a sublime submarine journey for all, an imaginative must-have for every collection.--Chance Lee Joyner, Haverhill P.L., MA
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Hare's follow-up to Field Trip to the Moon (rev. 9/19) again features a compelling setting, a not-too-scary adventure, and immersive illustrations. This wordless story begins on the book's wraparound cover, with a group of students heading to a bulbous deep-sea bus for a field trip to the ocean floor. Once anchored, the diving suit-clad students embark on a teacher-guided tour past bioluminescent squids, hydrothermal vents, and pillow lava; however, one student is more interested in taking photos than attending class. A dilapidated shipwreck and an ominously positioned treasure chest make for a great photo but result in the young photographer's tumble to the bottom of a trench. A confluence of events quickly unfolds through a series of dramatically arranged panels and spreads, including the child being stranded, discovering the ruins of an ancient city, and encountering a giant pliosaur. (Viewers will recognize the prehistoric creature from earlier in the story, as it was skillfully hidden on nearly every previous page.) A potentially frightening scenario is tempered by the pliosaur's endearing grin and desire for a photo shoot -- leading to the inadvertent collapse of the ruins. The newfound friends quickly rebuild the ruins before the errant student and classmates reunite. The appealing acrylic illustrations are painterly and impressively atmospheric, and exhibit a strong command of spot lighting; fans of the previous field-trip story will be pleased to see allusions to it, including character cameos and a glimpse of the space bus. Patrick Gall September/October 2020 p.61(c) Copyright 2020. 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
The ocean's depths offer extra wonders to a child who is briefly left behind on a class trip. In the wake of their Field Trip to the Moon (2019), a racially diverse group of students boards a submarine (yellow, but not that one) for a wordless journey to the ocean's bottom. Donning pressure suits, the children follow their teacher past a swarm of bioluminescent squid, cluster around a black smoker, and pause at an old shipwreck before plodding back. One student, though, is too absorbed in taking pictures to catch the signal to depart and is soon alone amid ancient ruins--where a big, striped, friendly, finny creature who is more than willing to exchange selfies joins the child, but it hides away when the sub-bus swoops back into sight to pick up its stray. Though The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor (1994) carries a considerably richer informational load, in his easy-to-follow sequential panels Hare does accurately depict a spare assortment of benthic life and features, and he caps the outing with a labeled gallery of the errant student's photos (including "Atlantis?" and "Pliosaur?"). The child is revealed at the end to be Black. Hare also adds cutaway views at the end of a diving suit and the sub. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-19-inch double-page spreads viewed at 40% of actual size.) A quick but adventuresome paddle into a mysterious realm. (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
