Marine Superstars

by John Farndon, Cristina Portolano (Illustrator)

Overview

Meet some of the most intriguing sea-dwelling animals on Earth and learn about their superstar abilities—from hunting and hiding to solving puzzles and playing. Discover how these spectacular marine animals and others use their smarts and skills to thrive in oceans all over the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512420142
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2016
Series:	Animal Bests
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	13 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	9 - 11 Years

About the Author

John Farndon is a Royal Literary Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK, and the author of a huge number of books for adults and children on science, history, technology and nature, including such international best-sellers as Do Not Open and Do You Think You're Clever? 
Cristina Portolano was born in Naples, Italy, and lives in Bologna, Italy. She attended the Art Academy in Bologna where she studied illustration.

Table of Contents

Animals in the Sea 6

Undersea Brainboxes 8

Slick Communicators 10

Detector Power 12

Super Senses 14

Smart Survivors 16

Escape Artists 18

Decoy Divas and Deep Cunning 20

Killers of the Deep 22

Making Allies 24

Tool Users 26

The Best of the Best 28

Special Skills 30

Index 32

Editorial Reviews

2016-07-02
Quick takes on selected denizens of the deep (and not so deep), illustrated with a mix of nature photos and brightly colored painted portraits.Catering not so much to younger independent readers as to those with short attention spans, a smattering of double-page spreads introduces creatures from the octopus (“Undersea Brainboxes” with the ability to get into, and even out of, screw-top jars) to the Mekong giant catfish (“big as a tiger”) while focusing on particular animal talents—such as camouflage, special senses, or tool using. Aside from the low page count, nothing about this book or its companions stands out. Portolano’s images are unexceptional, but they at least fill gaps in the stingy assortment of stock photos, and along with chatty general commentary, Farndon occasionally dishes up some uncommon tidbits, such as the way sharks will display “tonic immobility” (i.e., play dead) or the pearlfish’s habit of taking up residence in a sea cucumber’s anus. Series companions Amazing Land Animals, Incredible Bugs, and Remarkable Birds take the same browser-friendly approach. And for the most part, the content in all is anchored, however tenuously, in fact. Standard issue browsing fodder, likely to sink quickly out of sight through overall mediocrity. (Nonfiction. 8-9)

Kirkus Reviews