A broad and buoyant undersea venture.
Meet our aquatic neighbors, from sperm whales and vampire squid (“Velcome!”) to pigbutt worms.
“Well, hi there!” burbles a toothy deep-sea hatchetfish, swimming up to invite viewers on an unforgettable dive into ocean depths from the sunny epipelagic zone down to really deep, really dark hadalpelagic regions. Wonders aplenty await, from creatures with transparent heads and stomachs to sea angels, which change from male to female as they grow, carnivorous sponges, and siphonophores longer than blue whales. The author stoutly defends the reputations of the much maligned blobfish (“Blobfish? No, Blob Sculpin!”) and demonstrates a sure sense of theater with, for instance, a “Supersize Squid Showdown,” not to mention nods to the aforementioned pigbutt worm (“It’s not every day you see flying buttocks soaring through the seas!”) and the giant larvacean’s “magnificent snot palace.” In pursuit of a friendly vibe, Leigh puts smiles on the faces of creatures that have them (faces, that is) but otherwise draws her teeming wildlife in accurate detail. She also fills much of the open spaces in her mix of broad seascapes and inset panels with informative commentary and supplements the tour with closer looks at microenvironments such as hydrothermal vents and deadly undersea brine pools (“jacuzzi of despair!”) as well as special topics such as the continual descent of nutritious corpses and poop known as “marine snow.” She ends with further resources and eco-activities for readers who share her patent enthusiasm for denizens of the deep.
A broad and buoyant undersea venture. (index) (Graphic nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9780593521687
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
The author of The Snake Scientist (not reviewed) takes the reader along on another adventure, this time to the Bay of Bengal, between India and Bangladesh to the Sundarbans Tiger Preserve in search of man-eating tigers. Beware, he cautions, “Your study subject might be trying to eat you!” The first-person narrative is full of helpful warnings: watch out for the estuarine crocodiles, “the most deadly crocodiles in the world” and the nine different kinds of dangerous sharks, and the poisonous sea snakes, more deadly than the cobra. Interspersed are stories of the people who live in and around the tiger preserve, information on the ecology of the mangrove swamp, myths and legends, and true life accounts of man-eating tigers. (Fortunately, these tigers don’t eat women or children.) The author is clearly on the side of the tigers as she states: “Even if you added up all the people that sick tigers were forced to eat, you wouldn’t get close to the number of tigers killed by people.” She introduces ideas as to why Sundarbans tigers eat so many people, including the theory, “When they attack people, perhaps they are trying to protect the land that they own. And maybe, as the ancient legend says, the tiger really is watching over the forest—for everyone’s benefit.” There are color photographs on every page, showing the landscape, people, and a variety of animals encountered, though glimpses of the tigers are fleeting. The author concludes with some statistics on tigers, information on organizations working to protect them, and a brief bibliography and index. The dramatic cover photo of the tiger will attract readers, and the lively prose will keep them engaged. An appealing science adventure. (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-07704-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
In this glossy photo essay, the author briefly recounts the study and exploration of the moon, beginning with Stonehenge and concluding with the 1998–99 unmanned probe, Lunar Prospector. Most of the dramatic photographs come from NASA and will introduce a new generation of space enthusiasts to the past missions of Project Mercury, Gemini, and most especially the moon missions, Apollo 1–17. There are plenty of photographs of various astronauts in space capsules, space suits, and walking on the moon. Sometimes photographs are superimposed one on another, making it difficult to read. For example, one photograph shows the command module Columbia as photographed from the lunar module and an insert shows the 15-layer space suit and gear Neil Armstrong would wear for moonwalking. That’s a lot to process on one page. Still, the awesome images of footprints on the moon, raising the American flag, and earthrise from the moon, cannot help but raise shivers. The author concludes with a timeline of exploration, Web sites, recommended books, and picture credits. For NASA memorabilia collectors, end papers show the Apollo space badges for missions 11–17. Useful for replacing aging space titles. (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-57091-408-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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