Nonfiction Monday: Counting in the Oceans

Counting in the Oceans, (Counting in the Biomes Series)

by Fredrick L. McKissack, Jr and Lisa Beringer McKissack.
Ages 4-8, 32 pages,
Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2009

Reviewed by Heidi Bee Roemer.

Bio by Laura Crawford.

Book Source: We would like to thank Enslow Publishers, Inc. for donating a copy of this book for review.

Learning about the ocean biome and a few of its fascinating inhabitants is as easy as 1-2-3! Counting in the Oceans is presented in a fun question-and-answer format. Each page poses a question prompting readers to study the accompanying full-page color photo for the answer. Some questions simply ask readers to count the number of creatures they see in the picture: How many whales? How many scallops? How many sharks?

Other questions zero in on a particular characteristic of a creature. For example: How many claws does a crab have? How many flippers does a sea lion have? Look closely! While counting from one to ten, children will learn that a crab has two claws, the orange clownfish has three stripes, a sea lion has four flippers, a starfish has five arms, an octopus has eight legs, and a stingray has ten gills. Text also includes a scientific tidbit or two about each creature, and notes which ocean(s) they inhabit.

Counting in the Oceans, one of eight books in the Counting in the Biome series, features easy-to-read, large-size text opposite full-color sea-life photos. Introduction and back matter contain additional information about the ocean biome, a map, "Words to Know," plus helpful book and internet resources. If you’re looking for a fun educational book about oceans and ocean-life to share with a young child, this is a book you can count on!

The husband-and-wife writing team of Frederick and Patricia McKissack have been writing for over 20 years. In the early 1980 they quit their jobs and followed their dream of writing for children. He had been a civil engineer and construction worker, and she had been a high school teacher ad book editor...and now they have over 100 books published! Many of their titles focus on the history and biographies of important African Americans. Frederick prefers doing the research while Patricia does the writing when creating a new book. Frederick and Patricia live in St. Louis, Missouri.

This post is part of the Nonfiction Monday Round-Up hosted this week by us! Click here to read the rest of this week's posts and to enter our Anniversary Giveaway!