Review: Deep in the Sea by Susan B. Katz

Summer thoughts tend to bring images of the beach, sun and ocean with them. Today's read connects land and water, and teaches young listeners about the various forms of life found under the water's surface. And that with tons of doors to flip and flop! (Yes, I'm a door fan.)

Ready to take the dive? 

DEEP IN THE SEA

by Susan B. Katz

Illustrated by David A. Carter

Little Simon

Board Book

12 pages

ages 2 to 5

Compare sea creatures to land animals with similar names in this interactive play-on-words pop-up book with spectacular illustrations.

Lions roar...sea lions snore. Are catfish, dogfish, and elephant seals the same as a cat, a dog, or an elephant? Pop-ups reveal their differences in this delightful introduction to amazing creatures of land and sea.

GOODREADS   /   AMAZON   /   B&N    /   BOOK DEPOSITORY

MY TIDBITS

Exploring animals in the sea and on land gains a touch of fun in this easy to flip book.

While young listeners will easily recognize almost every land animal presented in these pages, the sea creatures will be more of a discovery for them. But this book is definitely not about dry learning. Each land animal (a cow, for example) is depicted, and then the door is flipped to show a sea creature with a very similar name (sea cow, in this case). The correlation does draw a few smiles, but more importantly, some of these will stick in young listeners' heads.

The illustrations are bright, bold and simple. Each creature/animal is depicted in a fairly basic but colorful way with only a little bit of surrounding. So, this remains centered on the creatures. They are clearly created to make them recognizable and yet, there's a pleasant, child-appropriate flair to them, too. The flaps to open with each connection, add a nice amount of fun...plus, they are sturdy enough to hold more than a few rounds of opening and closing.

The entire thing is written in very short rhyme. Each animal receives only a single sentence, keeping everything short and sweet. But that's all that's needed, too. It's a fun way to learn about sea creatures and holds several young listeners probably haven't run across before.  

And here they are...

Susan B. Katz is an award winning author and bilingual certified teacher. She has written ABC, Baby Me!; All Year Round; and Deep in the Sea, among others. She lives in California.

David A. Carter is a master paper engineer and creator of How Many Bugs in a Box? and more books in that series, which has sold more than six million copies. He is also the author and illustrator of the critically acclaimed One Red Dot, among others. Carter lives in Auburn, California, with his family.