Commotion in the Ocean

by Giles Andreae, David Wojtowycz (Illustrator)

Overview

Originally published: London: Orchard Books, 1998.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589250000
Publisher:	Tiger Tales.
Publication date:	03/06/2001
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	421,934
Product dimensions:	9.81(w) x 12.25(h) x 0.37(d)
Lexile:	AD850L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Giles Andreae is an artist, illustrator, writer, and poet. He often writes under the names of "Purple Ronnie", and "Edward Monkton", and is the author of the best-selling titles Rumble in the Jungle and Commotion in the Ocean, along with many other books for children.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 2-A mediocre collection of rhymes featuring different ocean animals. "The crab likes walking sideways/And I think the reason why,/Is to make himself look sneaky/And pretend that he's a spy." Although the poems are short, the vocabulary will occasionally be difficult for beginning readers. The opening and closing poems state that the book explores animals that live "beneath the sea," and yet polar bears and penguins are included. The brightly colored cartoon art is playful, but uninspired. Stick with Douglas Florian's In the Swim (Harcourt, 1997) for more creative writing and clever watercolor illustrations.-Robin L. Gibson, Muskingum County Library System, Zanesville, OH

School Library Journal

The round glass of a submarine porthole provides a window through which the animals of the ocean can be spied upon in all their "commotion." Crab, turtle, dolphin, jellyfish, shark, and more come under the scrutiny of Andreae, who gives each one a rhyming stanza or limerick that is often sing-song. Attributes of each creaturesþa shark's big mouth, a dolphin's sounds, a swordfish's skewerþprovide the subject matter, but the treatment is humorous, not scientific. The arms of the mother octopus enable her to tickle all of her children on their stomaches simultaneously; a crab's sideways movements turn him into a sneaky spy. The illustrations further anthropomorphize the undersea creatures, giving each one curly eyelashes and smiling faces. The only innovation here is a poem about barnacles written in tiny type on the underside of a blue whale, as if the words themselves are clinging to the giant. Otherwise, this British import is ordinary and often amateurish. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews