The Ocean Story

by John Seven Narrated by Various Narrators

Overview

The story of the ocean is as old as the earth itself. Over fishing, pollution, and oil spills have highlighted the need to take better care of our oceans so that the story can continue to be told. With poetic, lyrical text and gorgeous illustrations, this book will introduce the ocean story to the youngest listeners and offer a platform for questions and discussion from older readers.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 1–3—Endpapers filled with images of ocean life are the auspicious beginning of this beautiful eco-tale. "Why is the ocean so big?" a youngster asks the adult holding his hand at the shore. "It needs to be big to hold a story that is so very old." Seven poetically explains the water cycle, then explores some odd creatures of the deep, each labeled. Finally, oil drilling's pluses and minuses are touched upon, and readers learn that the "ocean story is a delicate one." This splendid call to stewardship is gloriously illustrated with paintings, each a gift of color and texture that encourages lingering. The spread filled with jellyfish nearly glows, and the various depictions of rainfall bring home the scope of the topic. This book is a perfect blend of poetry, visual art, and science.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

Seven and Christy, a husband and wife team, love walking New England beaches, exploring tide pools, and spotting whales; together they introduce the youngest viewers and listeners to the vastness of the ocean and the multiplicity of creatures that live in its waters. Drawing their audience in with a brief summary of the water cycle, bright pictures show a farmer on his tractor and kids playing in the rain, boats sailing in a bay. A series of expansive spreads with backgrounds of cool blues and greens (one black for deep-sea creatures) depicts intriguing inhabitants of the oceans from a giant squid and a blue whale to schools of tiny fish and curious creatures like sea stars and crinoids. Especially beautiful is a scene of jellyfish zooming upward through dark blue waters. Then the mood changes: viewers see a furious storm with fishermen hauling in a huge catch and a place where plastic junk pollutes the sea. Cleverly, author and illustrator focus on an undersea oilrig sharing space with serene, swimming ocean-dwellers. Oil begins to leak; we see divers with torches looking for the break, then oil pouring into the sea and a devastated beach with an oil-soaked gull. The text points out that the ocean is delicate and we need to do our part to keep its story alive. Through a minimum of text and vivid, evocative paintings (and endpapers full of sea dwellers), the artists allow space for budding oceanographers to become aware of both the beauty and the impending destruction of our ocean habitats—and for discussion of how humans might begin restoring the balance vital for their survival. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172468193
Publisher:	Capstone Press
Publication date:	03/01/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

Related Subjects

• Kids
• Fiction & Literature - Kids
• Animals - Kids Fiction
• Marine Life - Kids Fiction

Videos