Shimmer & Splash: a fishy look at the sea life that children will like

We just got back from a visit to the beach.  There were six children on the trip between ages 1 to 12.  On the beach the middle to older ones had buckets of questions about sea creatures.  “Something stung me-I think it was a jellyfish”.  “Is that a fin out there? I wonder if it’s a shark or a dolphin?  If your child is between 6 to 12 and have questions about sea life Shimmer & Splash is a good jumping off point.

Shimmer & Splash: The Sparkling World of Sea Life by Jim Arnosky has 40 pages of life like sea creatures painted with detailed facts and descriptions.   The book has four very large fold outs that help bring some of the animals to an even larger scale.  Our almost 4 year old would love to look at this book by himself, but he’s a bit too young to open the large fold outs by himself.

The book is well researched with observations and fine details about the animals.   Arnosky has written dozens of children’s animal books and all of them are based on his experiences watching them in the wild.  The text is approachable for children, but not condescending.  This means that some will find it too easy, while most will learn at least a couple of new words from the book.

The jellyfish page resonated with me because what the 8 year old said on the beach.

“Well, if you did get stung by a jellyfish it would hurt much more than that and you’d have to pee on yourself to treat it”, someone said.

“ewwww, I think I’ll go get a band aid”, the young girl said as she went back to the house.

Shimmer & Splash doesn’t offer first aid advice, but does share general wisdom about sea life.   Stay away from jellyfish and do not even touch them if they are on the sand.  It also introduces readers to new mysterious sea creatures like the porkfish, breeds of swordfish, the needlefish and the puffer.

This is a nice book that will introduce children to all sort of sea life.  The pictures will inspire curiosity, imagination and are not designed to scare.  Little ones can look at them as well, be secure that they live in the ocean and continue learning about them.

 

We were provided with a copy of the book for review purposes.  All thoughts are our own.