Summer is over. The beaches are less crowded. Do you visit the shoreline off season? The beaches change so much in each season. Today I get to share with you an interesting nonfiction picture book that teaches us about the one sea on Earth that does not have a shoreline! The book is Sea Without a Shore by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by Katherine Roy.
About the Book:
Sea Without a Shore Written by Barb Rosenstock & Illustrated by Katherine RoyAges: 4+ | 32 Pages | Publisher: W. W. Norton | ISBN: 9781324016076
Publisher’s Book Summary: A single piece of seaweed buoys a fascinating ecosystem in this nonfiction picture book from award-winning creators Barb Rosenstock and Katherine Roy.
From bryozoans and snails to shrimps, eels, swordfish, and whales, the Sargasso Sea provides a home to countless types of marine life, thanks to the prevalence of microalgae called sargassum. Following a single blade of this extraordinary seaweed as it grows and spreads, readers see what it provides for the sea’s organisms: a base for hydroids and tube worms to filter and feed, shelter for anemones and nudibranchs and their nutritious waste, hunting grounds for crabs and amphipods, and a source of nourishment and protection for the fish, birds, whales, and reptiles that feed on these smaller creatures.
Through a widening scope on this intricate interdependence, Barb Rosenstock celebrates one of our planet’s most diverse and important ecosystems and the unassuming seaweed that sustains it. Gorgeously illustrated with Katherine Roy’s rich, eye-catching artwork, Sea Without a Shore is as fluid and rhythmic as the currents that shape this tidal home.
Purchase Links:
About the Author
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| Photo Credit: Ann & Kam Photography - Norton Young Readers |
Barb Rosenstock is the author of several children’s books, including The Noisy Paint Box, which received a Caldecott Honor. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.
About the Illustrator:
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| Photo Credit Tim Stout W.W. Norton |
Katherine Roy is the creator of the Sibert Honor Book Neighborhood Sharks and, most recently, Making More. She lives in Corvallis, Oregon.
From Me:
Have you ever heard of the Sargasso Sea? I know I hadn't This book introduces a whole new world to us or at least a whole new sea. This nonfiction book shares about an ecosystem that grows and lives in one part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is its own sea with sargassum growing there. The book is full of information about sargassum--it's an algae and not a plant. As the sargassum grows the ecosystem changes. New life moves in, and former life moves out. It shifts throughout the expansion and changes. The book shares so much information in a manner that younger readers will be able to understand and comprehend. It will get their minds going and thinking about the science and wonder of this sea.
This is a book that should be in elementary school classrooms and libraries. It should be part of units on the oceans and ocean life. It shares the facts and gets the reader curious to learn more. The book can serve as a wonderful introduction to studying oceans, ocean life and algae. The sargassum has gas-filled globes that keep it afloat. It creates this amazing habitat in part of the Atlantic Ocean. A piece of it can break off and a new habitat begins. The science in this book is explained and the language will be easy for kids to understand. I really do feel like this book should be added to curriculum when studying the ocean.
At the end of the book there is a map and pictures of the various life that exists in the Sargasso Sea. There is an afterword as well as a research note which shares a bit more about sargassum the Sargasso Sea (as well as how the book idea begins). The book is interesting and fun. I can see kids getting excited for the different species that live, hide and hunt in the sargassum. I can see them looking for the creatures in the illustrations. The illustrations are beautiful and well detailed. The wide variety of species that live, hide and hunt in this sea is truly amazing. The book shares it so well. I hope you will check it out!
Giveaway:
Enter for a chance to win a hardcover edition of Sea Without a Shore, autographed by both Barb Rosenstock and Katherine Roy. Good luck!
