Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea

Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea is a children’s, non-fiction, picture book that teaches kids all about sea horses. They’ll learn things like where sea horses live and how they can hide in the coral by camouflaging themselves to their surroundings, what they eat, who their predators are, and how they swim. It also discusses how these tiny sea creatures mate for life and how they reproduce.

This book came to my attention because I’d seen it pop up a number of times on recent lists of books being banned in schools and libraries, so I just had to find out what all the fuss was for myself. After reading it, quite frankly, I found that it’s nothing but that: just a manufactured fuss over nothing. Sure the book talks about how sea show more horses mate and reproduce, but it’s done so in a gentle, completely age-appropriate and non-offensive way. There’s nothing explicit about it at all, instead just relating factual information about these wondrous creatures. In fact, I found this book to be adorable and the gently flowing narrative soothing. I think it’s cute (and kind of romantic) that sea horses mate for life and I thought the way they twine their tails together during their courtship dance was akin to humans holding hands. It even educated me as an adult. I had no idea that it’s the males who gestate and give birth to their young. Who knew?! The illustrations are a lovely compliment to the text. They’re mostly done in shades of bluish-green, which I’m sure is meant to mimic the ocean, with splashes of browns and reds to give it some color. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this sweet book that definitely doesn’t deserve the bad rap that some people are trying to give it. I highly recommend it for early elementary age kids who are interested in animals or sea life. show less

How often do you find a science book that is charming? This one is, and it's also informative. Perfect for the 5 to 8 year old who is fascinated by seal life. (Also, some lunatics in the US tried to ban it, so show support for accuracy in children's education and don't let the loonies win.)

This book spoke to me. I love the illustrations: They look like they are created with woodcuts or other printmaking techniques. I have a particular affinity for knowledge of ocean life, having grown up along the U.S. eastern seaboard. As a child, I was not particularly interested in the natural sciences, but as an adult, my interest in the area where I grew up has increased.

Curricular connections: Now, having read the article on using picture books with middle school readers, I see opportunities to develop greater understandings with limited text, even with non fiction. Also, the book's layout could be used as a strong example of how to use different fonts and boxes of text to draw the reader's eye to different parts of the story.

Fact-filled, but reads like a story.

Laid out like a picture book, Sea Horse still manages to include plenty of information about these small, shy fish. The text comes in two sizes with the larger working as a narrative that could be read aloud for a storytime and the smaller including additional facts of interest to the information seeker. An index is included indicating where specific information such as would be needed for school projects would be located. The muted colors of the illustrations, made from vinyl engravings, watercolor washes, and printed wood textures by John Lawrence, suit the deep sea setting perfectly. Children are likely to be fascinated by these unusual creatures who have such strange appearances and this title is an excellent choice for both school show more and public libraries. show less

1. This is a great informational text about Sea Horses and their life cycle. It explains how they survive by changing their colors and blending in, how they reproduce, and how baby Sea Horses can survive right after being born.
2. I really enjoy this book because of the colorful and detailed illustrations it provides along with the factual information about the life cycle of the Sea Horse.
3. I think this would be a good book for children ages 5-7 or so. It would go well with a unit on life cycles or ocean animals.

Great picture book. Goes into detail about the life of a sea horse. Can be used when helping students to learn about animals of the sea.