Short description
There's a curious commotion at the bottom of the ocean ...
Long description
Dive into the ocean for a noisy rhyming romp packed with favourite sea creatures brought to life with fun, vibrant artwork. This bestselling picture book from an award-winning creative team is a delight to read aloud and share with young children.
Review
The round glass of a submarine porthole provides a window through which the animals of the ocean can be spied upon in all their commotion. Crab, turtle, dolphin, jellyfish, shark, and more come under the scrutiny of Andreae, who gives each one a rhyming stanza or limerick that is often sing-song. Attributes of each creatures - a shark's big mouth, a dolphin's sounds, a swordfish's skewer - provide the subject matter, but the treatment is humorous, not scientific. The arms of the mother octopus enable her to tickle all of her children on their stomaches simultaneously; a crab's sideways movements turn him into a sneaky spy. The illustrations further anthropomorphize the undersea creatures, giving each one curly eyelashes and smiling faces. The only innovation here is a poem about barnacles written in tiny type on the underside of a blue whale, as if the words themselves are clinging to the giant. Otherwise, this British import is ordinary and often amateurish. (Kirkus Reviews)