Sepia and the Big Ocean

PreS-Gr 2–While playing a game of hide-and-seek with her father, a young cuttlefish named Sepia gets swept away by a strong current. Hopelessly lost, she can’t find her way back to the atoll where she lives. Luckily she isn’t alone— clinging to one of her tentacles is a tiny seahorse—and together they make their way back home. She starts by asking a manta ray and and an old sea turtle for help and gets none. After a brief encounter with a “fearsome” shark, eventually, with the help of a whale, Sepia and her seahorse friend find their way back to their beloved atoll and into the arms of her father. Despite the inherent drama of being lost and separated from a parent, the story is not terribly engaging. The gorgeous and lovingly drawn illustrations, which are full of color and details, unfortunately can’t quite make up for the lackluster text. Back matter includes numbered diagrams and facts about cuttlefish.