Gray, Susan. Oceanography: The Study of Oceans.

Gray, Susan.      Oceanography: The Study of Oceans.  Scholastic/ Childrens Press   48p   $28.00 978-0-531-24679-5            elem  Series: A True Book (Scholastic/Childrens)  E-BNe    

     

This book is an introduction to the field of oceanography, covering the science and history of the oceans, ocean geography and sea life, and new discoveries in the field.  What makes this book really special, aside from the topic and content, are the bold, splashy (pun intended) illustrations, text font and color, and bullet points (illustrated by arrows).  The book grabs the reader at the cover (with its arrowed whale shark) and holds his/her attention throughout.  A couple of the arrowed points include information about divers (page 7) and a satellite image of Earth’s oceans (page 18).  Words in bold face throughout the text are defined in the glossary at the back of the book.  All of the illustrations are well placed with the associated text.  The book concludes with statistics, a list of resources (print and web), a glossary and an index. The series, complete in 16 titles, addresses a variety of the different fields of study within the earth sciences.  Bold illustrations, informative text and related information make the titles in this series ones that any elementary age student will grab off the shelf.            --Lynn Fisher