Monday, April 18, 2011

The Ocean Story - Written by John Seven and Illustrated by Jana Christy



The Ocean Story - Written by John Seven and Illustrated by Jana Christy



The ocean is old and big. It is full of strange and wonderful creatures. Is story is part of the earth's story. The ocean is as important to the earth as the sun is.
But what happens when something goes wrong? What happens when the ocean story turns scary? The ocean is in trouble. We have to help save it.


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This lovely engaging story tells the "ocean story" of fish and other animals that inhabit our planet and how oil spills and other disasters are killing the animals and destroying the planet.


The pictures are beautiful. The colors are rich and realistic and can tell the story even without words being included. However, having the words makes the reading experience even richer and rewarding!


I love the pictures and the colors. This book is warm, friendly, and engaging. It is a story that parents, families, teachers, librarians,and others should read to children and to themselves.


The illustrator uses lots of rich child-friendly pastel colors. There are lots of greens, blues, purples, oranges, browns, pinks, lilac, etc. As we move to the part of the book where we learn about the oil in the ocean, we see oil at the bottom of the ocean... fish skeletons... oil all over the fish... etc. The colors change from bright and friendly to dark and dismal........


Some of the fish seem to have their own personality.... The Blob fish resembles a sad older man.. Where as in contrast, the Axolotl looks like a young happy child playing in the ocean!


We see fishermen reeling in their large catch for the day...... The fish are brown and look as if they are toxic because they were in polluted waters........ The next page reads:


"Sometimes the water is covered in sludge and goo and trash and other messy things. Things that should not be in the ocean." 

The photos are realistic. We see milk bottles, water bottles, and other life size trash. They show the oil rigs in the pictures also.


"Oil runs our cars and warms our homes. We try to pull it out with care." "But sometimes, things go wrong. Oil goes where it should not be."


"The strange, mysterious, and wonderful ocean creatures watch the ocean turn very dark all around them."


The ocean has turned from a lovely blue to a dreadful... murky... dismal..... brown!


The next picture showed polluted water..  fish and other animals covered in oil... some beached on land.......Oil rigs in the background... smoking... on fire.......


"Nothing can live in oil."


"Sometimes, the ocean story is a scary one."


I won't share with you how the story ends........


You will have to read this story to learn the ending!


I recommend this book to everyone. It should be in every home, school library, and public library!

This is a great book for story time! There should be a discussion afterwards where students and adults can discuss this book and what happens to our oceans and the environment when there are man made disasters such as oil spills and other disasters!


Pick up a copy of this must-read book when you can! You won't be disappointed!

Until the next time..........

Happy Reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A children's book a day, keeps the scary monster away!