At the Sea Floor Café: Odd Ocean Critter Poems

by Leslie Bulion, Leslie Evans (Illustrator)

Overview

Celebrate sea creatures and their fare in this award-winning volume of witty science poetry!

What's on the menu for undersea creatures? Leslie Bulion's clever collection of poems describes the devious and surprising methods ocean denizens use to forage for food, capture prey, and trick predators. Poems bobble and swim effortlessly from page to page, leading readers from the snail shell home of the jeweled anemone crab to a raft of violet snails hanging upside down in their bubble houses.

The book also features rich back matter, including science notes with details about each animal's behavior, a glossary, and poetry notes explaining the types and forms of poems that appear on each spread. Leslie Evans's striking linoleum prints round out this title, which is perfect for cross-curricular learning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561455652
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	04/05/2011
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.35(d)
Lexile:	NC1130L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Leslie Bulion has graduate degrees in oceanography and social work. She has written parenting and education articles and is the author of several children's science-related poetry books and novels. When she's not writing, she enjoys exploring nature with her binoculars, hand lens, and camera; collecting specimens to examine under her microscope; or going SCUBA diving and or kayaking. Leslie lives in Connecticut.

Leslie Evans graduated with a degree in printmaking from Rhode Island School of Design and has worked as a designer and illustrator for many years. She has illustrated many children's books. She lives in Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

Dexterous formal verse about sea creatures pairs with pleasingly abstract block prints in this informative, fun collection. A "kyrielle" shrewdly characterizes its elusive subject: "We don't know why the convict fish/ Lives so completely hermitish,/ Skulks hiding, never swims about,/ But eats its young then spits them out." Sidebars further educate readers about the menagerie, which includes bottlenose dolphins, sea spiders, and an egg sac–toting squid, while appended notes offer a crash course on poetic form. Beguiling lines like "Osedax, the legless worm,/ Lands on whale-fall, digs in firm./ Eyeless, mouthless, gills like plumes,/ Bone-devouring zombie blooms" should spark readers' interest in poetry and marine biology alike. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Beguiling lines should spark readers' interest in poetry and marine biology alike" —Publishers Weekly

"The attractive design features appealing colors and block-print illustration" —School Library Journal

"This gathering of humorous poetry and fascinating facts should be welcomed as a companion to Bulion and Evans' previous collaboration, Hey There, Stink Bug! (2006) —even the surprise among the school of krill on the endpapers will make readers smile."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Gr 5–9—This collection of 18 poems about marine life begins with an invitation to explore. The first few lines of "Dive In!" read: "Let's visit a habitat shallow and deep/And boiling hot, where acids seep...." The fact that parts of the ocean are boiling hot is just the first of many surprises along the way. The word "odd" in the subtitle is appropriate, since the focus is on animals like the sea spider, which "...sports guts and eggs in its legs." Each poem is accompanied by a paragraph or two of factual information. Some selections are short, others are longer. Endnotes describe the many formal structures the poet uses, from double dactyls to Spenserian stanzas. The attractive design features appealing colors and block-print illustrations. Overall, this book is for an older audience than one would think at first glance. It will probably be best appreciated by middle school age and up, and will be ideal for some classroom settings. With its mix of poems and information, Stephen R. Swinburne's Ocean Soup: Tide-Pool Poems (Charlesbridge, 2010) is similar but for a younger audience.—Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL

School Library Journal