OK, boys and girls, have you thanked a phytoplankter today? No? Well what are you waiting for?!? As children's science author Mary M. Cerullo and marine photographer Bill Curtsinger - who also collaborated on the companion volume Sea Soup: Zooplankton - demonstrate in this engaging picture-book exploration of the world of phytoplankton (plural form), these tiny floating sea organisms are incredibly important to the survival (the establishment, even) of life on our planet. Not only do they feed the zooplankton - who are, in turn, the diet of countless marine species - but they are central to the formation of everything from limestone rock to oil (as well as coral reefs), and absorb nearly half of the carbon dioxide we humans produce every year, giving us half of our oxygen in return. Small they may be - but not insignificant!

Sea Soup: Phytoplankton is a book I would most likely never have picked up (or even been aware of), were I not trying to read the entire children's catalogue of Maine-based Tilbury House, one of my favorite smaller, independent publishers. I'm glad that I did, however, as I learned a lot, and discovered a non-fiction picture-book team whose work I can wholeheartedly recommend. Engaging and informative - there's a lot of detail packed into this short book! - it's a title I would recommend to all young readers with an interest in the natural world, and specifically, in marine biology. ( )