Coral Reefs

Author: Jason Chin
Publication Date: 2011
Type of Book: Informational Picture Book

This picture book shares a young girls experience learning about coral reefs from a book she borrowed from the library. The story begins with the girl picking up a book off the shelf in the library and her walking around reading it. There are illustrations and text on each page that provides readers with information about coral reefs. The little girl is a silent character and doesn't say anything during the story. The story is told as a narrative about coral reefs.

My favorite part of the story was the illustrations that accompanied the text. I loved how you saw the little girl reading in the library and as she was reading more information about coral reefs those elements became present on the page. It started with a few pieces of coral coming from the library floor to water rushing through the windows filling the place with many species of animals. The story provided a lot of information about coral reefs in a way that was different than many informational books. Readers were taken on a journey inside a book about coral reefs with the character in the story. The characters imagination was present in the illustrations which I thought was unique. It was also cool how the author included information at the end of the story about the threat to coral reefs, the partnership between algae and corals and additional facts about coral reefs.

I would recommend this story for students of any grade level. The story is a fun way for students to learn about coral reefs. For younger grades I would use it as a read aloud. Students in younger grades could also write one thing they learned about coral reefs. Older students could choose one aspect of coral reefs to research in further detail.

Image References:
http://jasonchin.net/books/coral-reefs/