From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 4-Vivid, full-color photographs and brief text introduce 12 fish that occupy the waters around coral reefs. On each double-page spread, a framed block of text names the featured animal, provides a whimsical introductory statement (e.g., "Graceful, gentle creatures, rays glide/Through the sea like giant butterflies"), and describes its appearance or behavior in a few sentences. Illustrations of lovely, shadowy fish swimming against creamy, yellow pages form backdrops for the narrative, drawing the eye in an attractive counterpoint to the dramatic photos. A short introduction describes coral reefs and includes a map indicating their locations. Henry's stunning photography magnifies some of the fish, belying the actual small size of the gobies and damselfish. Though the information is minimal, Earle injects a bit of her personal experience as a diver and scientist: "When provoked, damselfish will chase away creatures many times their size-even me!" Bold and beautiful, this selective but inviting view of reef animals is a simpler introduction to coral reefs than Norbert Wu's more informative and also striking A City under the Sea (Atheneum, 1996) or Laurence Pringle's Coral Reefs (S & S, 1995).Margaret Bush, Simmons College, BostonCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Parents' Choice®
Far less work than a home aquarium, and even more exotic in its content, is this collection of fish inhabitants of a tropical coral reef. From colorful clownfish to sinister stargazer, from blue-spotted stringray to silvertip shark, these denizens of the deep are here before our eyes, in clear, captivating close-up portraits. The text is short and simple, a mere hors d'oeuvre of an introduction to tropical fish, but the outsized dramatic color photographs will reward looking at again and again. (Selma G. Lanes, Parents' Choice, 1998)


Boston Globe, Spring, 1999
An internationally known marine biologist explores and explains the characteristics of some fish living on a coral reef...the full page, large photographs are spectacular. A book that will pique the curiosity of young naturalists...


From Kirkus Reviews
Earle (Dive!, p. 64) again transports readers to the ocean's depths, this time to introduce the weird and beautiful inhabitants of the coral reef. A dozen fish receive star treatment, with brief, exuberant paragraphs of text and dramatic full-color photographs. Almost every page is suitable for display, showing off the spotted moray eel, brown goby, stargazer fish, spotted sting ray, clownfish, shark, and others. The author has a unique perspective on the fish, e.g., ``I often stop and play with morays. I've even hugged a few! . . . In fact, these gentle and curious fish remind me of kittens.'' That statement, next to a picture of the gaping jaws of a sharp-toothed, freckled fish, is bound to have an impact on readers. Earle does not provide specific, detailed information on the fish, apparently content to hook browsers, and to inspire them to further research. Even those who have never ventured under the sea will appreciate this enthusiastic guide. (Picture book. 7-12) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

ANNOTATION

An underwater explorer takes a tour of the ocean and introduces such fish as the damselfish, red lipped batfish, and brown goby.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

An underwater explorer takes a tour of the ocean and introduces such fish as the damselfish, red lipped batfish, and brown goby.

FROM THE CRITICS

Boston Globe

An internationally known marine biologist explores and explains the characteristics of some fish living on a coral reef￯﾿ﾽthe full page, large photographs are spectacular. A book that will pique the curiosity of young naturalists￯﾿ﾽ

Bulletin of the Center for Childrens Books

Young readers are invited into an undersea world of fish and other marine life in this photographic introduction to the coral reefs￯﾿ﾽEarle's text is simply and succinctly informative￯﾿ﾽHenry's superb color photographs of morays, brown gobys, sharks, damselfish, and others are composed like portraits, providing a remarkably up-close look at a remarkable variety of marine life. Both format and layout make this a strong non-fiction choice for both reading aloud to groups and individual beginning readers...

Children's Literature - Joan Carris

Although the text is a little uneven, this picture book is a good introduction to some of the more unusual fish that live in and around a coral reef. Sylvia Earle explains briefly how a reef is formed, and then continues through glorious double spreads to introduce 12 intriguing reef-dwellers like the tiny goby, the spotted moray eel (pretty scary), the clown-fish, the silver-tip shark (also darn scary), and so on. The information is fascinating, but some of the pictures could give a young child the heebie-jeebies. (Of course, today's kids are tougher...or are they? Parents would need to decide.)

School Library Journal