Review: The clowns of the ocean
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 20, 2014
Emma Child knows how to get her reader's attention as wells as any one writing educational books for children. Her previous books on SHARKS and SNAKES and DINOSAURS and HORSES were big successes, so now she addresses DOLPHINS. She faces the reader head on with facts, challenges the reader to see the whole picture, and ends up creating a fascination about her topic complete with diagrams and photographs. For example, on writing a book about an animal that has entertained most everyone in aquariums or at seaside or out on the ocean, she begins her book as follows: `These fun-loving, friendly sea creatures are some of the smartest animals in the world. They're also easy to train, fun to watch, and super-cute on top of it.'In this excellent book, aided by superb photography, she delves into the anatomy of dolphins, explains why their bodies are slippery, explains their tail ins are called flukes, have curved mouths that look like they're smiling, and have blowholes on top of their beads for breathing. She describes how dolphins live around the world, migrating from place to place each year to obtain the food that they need. The strange blowholes are explained - dolphins are mammals and need air to breathe instead of other aquatic animals who depend on gills to gather oxygen from the water. They can stage submerged for 30 minutes and then must surface to breathe. They feed on fish and squid and are hunters.She then delves into the concept of Echo-Location - the manner in which dolphins seek out prey, even though they can indeed see and hear also. They chat among themselves, gather in groups called pods. Child then offers the life cycle from inception to birth in a series of fine photographs of dolphins in utero (for one year!), and at play. And why are they so smart? Child gives an excellent explanation about their brains and their memories. She then takes us through images and information about the different types of dolphins - and there are many. A long list of facts about dolphin characteristics is like reading a Ripley's Believe it or Not! After spending time with Emma Child's book we truly understand the world of dolphins. Grady Harp, February 14