FICTION

In the Sea

by David ELLIOTT
illus. by Holly Meade. unpaged. CIP. Candlewick. 2012. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-4498-7. LC 2010047666.
COPY ISBN
Gr 1–4—In this collection, readers are treated to short, descriptive, yet elegant poems about the different life forms that are found in the sea. Starting with the sea horse and ending with the blue whale, each poem is but a glimpse of the creature it describes. A menacing tone is found in "The Shark": "The fin,/the skin,/the brutal grin…/The terror/of the dark within," and a playful tone emerges in "The Clown Fish": "Is not an enemy/of anemone;/in fact, it is anemone's maid,/for which anemone/stings its enemies./And that's how friends are made." Accompanying the verse on each spread are bold woodblock and watercolor illustrations that successfully capture the atmosphere and movement of the ocean. From the maw of the moray eel to the detail in the coral, the art perfectly matches the tone of the poetry. This work could easily be shared in its entirety as a read-aloud, and can be paired with the author's In the Wild (2010) and On the Farm (2008, both Candlewick) as well as Joyce Sidman's Swirl by Swirl (Houghton Harcourt, 2011).—Stacy Dillon, LREI, New York City
In this companion book to In the Wild and On the Farm, poetry and art combine to create memorable portraits, for the very young, of twenty ocean creatures. The full-spread woodcut-and-watercolor illustrations are both striking and simple. Tone of the very short poems varies nicely: most are lightly humorous while others are evocative and almost majestic. Reel this one in; it's a keeper.
In this companion book to the author-illustrator team's previous In the Wild (rev. 9/10) and On the Farm (rev. 3/08), poetry and art combine to create memorable portraits, for the very young, of twenty different ocean creatures. The full-spread woodcut-and-watercolor illustrations are both striking and simple. On one double-page spread, an octopus roils the inky water, the pages barely containing it and its eight coiled arms; on the next, a golden starfish shines on a calm expanse of sand. The tone of the very short poems varies nicely. Most are lightly humorous, such as "The Giant Squid": "Few have seen him. / Few wish to. / Hide from this one! / (That's what fish do.)" Others, like the longer poem on "The Blue Whale" that closes this brief collection, are evocative and almost majestic: "...the largest animal alive / sings a chanty deep and slow / of winds that rage and storms that blow, / of shipwrecked sailors down below..." Reel this one in; it's a keeper. martha v. parravano
Reviewed by Stacy Dillon , Apr 01, 2012

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