Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef

My daughter loves ocean animals and to have a book helping her count as well, it's a winner.

This was a souvenir we purchased at the aquarium this past weekend that I felt compelled to review. What a great little book. It is a fun counting book that educates on undersea creatures while teaching numbers along the way. The illustrations are absolutely mesmerizing. When combined with the rhyming, even the busiest of toddlers will tune in. I am in absolute awe of the illustrations. What a clever twist (photographs of polymer clay) on the usual picture books. Will be picking up the talented illustrator's other books.

the artistry of this book is unsurpassed. the rhyming is cute and fun to recite. the counting aspect is educational and fun. love this book... and so do my 4 and 2 year olds.

My daughters and I enjoy everything about this book from the amazing clay-created illustrations to the singable, educational copy. After borrowing it from the library a number of times (our tried-and-true test for finding good books) we decided to purchase it. It is a perfect book for preschool kids as it reinforces number recognition, introduces unusual ocean life through playful rhymes, and, very importantly, tells them again that playing with clay or playdough is a fabulous creative activity!

---A book that would serve as an enriching literature unit as well as a wonderful gift--- This book consists of 11 verses of engaging rhyme in the same form as "Over in the Meadow", using fish and other sea animals instead of meadow animals. A new sea creature is introduced on every 2-page spread in quantities from 1 to 10. For example, for the number "2": Over in the ocean Where the sea grasses grew Lived a mother parrotfish And her parrotfish two. "Grind," said the mother. "We grind," said the two. So they ground on the coral Where the sea grasses grew." And so it goes for each number, 1 through 10, with every verse starting with, "Over in the ocean...." The eleventh verse is a wrap-up where the reader has to find all 55 young animals in the 2-page spread (1 octopus, 2 parrotfish, 3 clownfish and so on), similar to the I Spy books. Some of the supplemental features after the rhyme: * the rhyme printed with the music, sung to the tune of "Over in the Meadow" * information about each of the coral reef animals in the book * hand motions that may be used for each of the verses (e.g., for the needlefish "skitter": put arms way out straight, then separate arms and wiggle fingers in a skittering motion) * description of the artwork by the artist The artwork is excellent -- aesthetically pleasing and very creative! The artist used polymer clay with various tools to shape all the scenery and animals onto a board. Then, "to create the two-dimensional illustrations for a book, the reliefs are photographed (with careful attention to lighting)." I, as well as my children, enjoy looking at the artwork, trying to guess how it was done. This is the artist's first book; I certainly hope she does more! This book can be used as a launching-off point to teach 2- to 7-year-olds in more than one subject: * The younger ones (ages 2-4) can learn their numbers and counting. * The older ones can use this for memory work. A large class of 5- to 7-year-olds could team up in pairs; each pair could memorize a verse of the rhyme. * It could be used to introduce a unit on : sea creatures, coral reefs, or ocean life. * It could be used to introduce an art unit on clay. * It could be used a the spine of a literature unit with all of the above as additional activities. This could be part of a gift set to a young child, accompanied by some toy sea animals and/or a book about ocean life (or coral reefs or sea animals). The 10 kinds of animals appearing in the rhyme are: octopus, parrotfish, clownfish, stingrays, pufferfish, dolphins, angelfish, needlefish, gruntfish, seahorses. My 5-year-old reads our library copy over and over. I look forward to having our own copy of this book, which will be a keeper in our home.