Ocean Soup: Tide-Pool Poems

by Stephen R. Swinburne, Mary Peterson (Illustrator)

Overview

Dive in for a taste of tide pool soup!

When the tide goes out, a briny soup is trapped among the rocks. Playful poems introduce readers to ten salty tide-pool creatures—from a self-satisfied anemone that brags about its home to barnacles that perform a rap about their feeding technique. The poems are brought to life by Mary Peterson's lighthearted illustrations.

A secondary layer of factual text introduces children to the creatures that inhabit North American tide pools.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580892018
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	02/01/2010
Series:	Rise and Shine
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Stephen R. Swinburne is a former park ranger and the author of several nonfiction books for children, including WINGS OF LIGHT: THE MIGRATION OF THE YELLOW BUTTERFLY. Steve lives in South Londonderry, Vermont.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2–4—Poems about sea creatures that inhabit tide pools are accompanied by googly-eyed, often comical, cartoon representations of each one, along with a short note describing a few of its characteristics. Many of the selections are quatrains with rhyming second and fourth lines. Barnacle, sea slug, sculpin, mussel, starfish, lobster, octopus, and more—each describes its own habits in first-person verse, some with a refrain tagged on: "Scuttle to the left, scuttle to the right./In my new shell, I'll scuttle all night." (The hermit crab). Critters are painted in bright pastel colors—yellow, yellow-green, pale and bright pink, red, and shades of blue. Their distinctive shapes are clear, and characteristic details, such as spines, tentacles, and suction cups, are included. Each spread features a humorous poem, several illustrations, and information about the creature. More fun than purely factual, this collection is an additional choice for poetry sections.—Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

School Library Journal

Appearing as googly-eyed cartoons, sea creatures discuss life in the tide pools in these lighthearted rhymes. Hairy Doris, a sea slug, is proud of her unusual appearance (“I’m really rather lucky that/ I have no pesky shell./ Behold my lovely body—/ I’m a stunning tide-pool belle!”) and in a poem called “Regenerate,” a starfish is casual about losing an appendage: “A crab comes—SNIP!—there goes my arm./ Rude, yes, but I’m not alarmed.” Brief paragraphs provide factual tidbits, though the focus is definitely on fun. Ages 6–9. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Twelve poems, most in the first-person voices of tide-pool inhabitants, offer a glimpse into the watery world of the intertidal zone. But young readers or listeners not already familiar with that mysterious world may be left adrift. Nothing in the text or illustrations defines that quite distinctive environment. Barnacles, sea slugs, sea urchins, sculpins, mussels, starfish, hermit crabs, anemones, lobsters, octopuses and plankton-Swinburne mixes East and West Coast creatures, highlighting a few distinctive characteristics in his playful, sometimes ragged poetry and adding a short paragraph of factual detail for each. On each double-page spread, against a watery blue background, Peterson's equally lighthearted cartoons show anthropomorphized, googly-eyed creatures; some suggest they can all be found together. The author includes a glossary of unfamiliar words used in his poems as well as a note and some suggested web and text resources. Teachers and librarians expecting science at the level of Swinburne's previous work (Wings of Light, 2006, etc.) will be disappointed, but this might supplement more informative texts. (Poetry/informational picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews