Member Reviews
Its an informative book on corals in a rhyming manner. It also tells about how to save them. Illustrations are colourful and beutiful.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC
Gosh, I just LOVE this book. Ever since my family watched a documentary about coral life dying in many parts of the world, we've been trying to educate our children more about oceans, pollution, etc... I just love that this book educates about coral life in a simple manner for a variety of ages to understand and appreciate.
I especially loved the illustrations. The black background with the vivid, vibrant colors of sea life leaves a lasting impressive. .
The Coral Kingdom by Laura Knowles is a beautifully illustrated picture book about coral reefs, as well as a pretty strong call to save them.
The story part of the book is a nice sing song of the animals and colors of the reef. The back matter is all about what is coral, how we can save it, and how we can save our planet. Told in a loose rhyming scheme, the reader is brought into the wonders of this undersea world. The watercolor pictures illustrate with beautiful colors of the reef and the life around it. There are lots of sea creatures to find as well as unusual things like boats that have become part of the reef over time. A call is made to save this beautiful space.
The book ends with some action ideas for sustaining the reef and how it is losing it's color. The message is clear, but I never felt like I was being beat over the head with it. The case is made gently and with beautiful art.
I received an ARC Quarto Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a timely publication with the current level of interest there is in ocean conservation and hits the right marks in the discussion points at the end of the book which could be explored further with children. This makes this book an ideal jumping off point if you were looking to do a topic or study into recycling or the environment. This would be an excellent book choice for younger children if a school wanted to introduce a green/environmental focus to their setting. .
In terms of the story and illustrations, 'The Coral Kingdom' would certainly appeal to younger children with bright and vibrant pictures throughout that would immediately bring to mind films like 'Finding Nemo' and help make this a comfortable and familiar setting for young readers. This would also be a good starting point or prompt for some independent writing with an easy to follow rhythm to the text which could allow schemes such as 'Talk for Writing' to be followed to help children produce their own writing.
I love finding books like this which could so easily be adapted as a writing prompt or a topic starting point. Definitely one to add to any Early Years classroom or young reader's book collection.
I think this delightful book would be fantastic to share with one child or a group of children and to create a discussion about the way we look after our oceans and particularly the coral. The rhyme flows beautifully through the stunning illustrations explaining why the coral is so important and why we need to take care of it. Following this there is a more informative factual section which has more detail. The book covers a very topical subject in a fun but informative way.
I really enjoyed this book. The rhymes were easy stanzas that will allow kiddos to follow along with ease, The illustrations are impeccably detailed and my favorite part! They really lend life to this short story! I also loved the well-researched details at the end that make the readers really think about what they read and how they can make a difference! I would recommend this book for any early learners as well as older elementary children as the content will capture their attention and hold their attention so that the message can be delivered! I am going to buy this story for my sons! Thank you for allowing the opportunity to read and review this title.
The illustrations in “The Coral Kingdom” are appropriately amazing. I loved that it works as a read aloud while providing important information.
'The Coral Kingdom' by Laura Knowles with illustrations by Jennie Webber is a beautifully illustrated picture book about coral reefs, as well as a pretty strong call to save them.
Told in a loose rhyming scheme, the reader is brought into the wonders of this undersea world. The watercolor pictures illustrate with beautiful colors of the reef and the life around it. There are lots of sea creatures to find as well as unusual things like boats that have become part of the reef over time. A call is made to save this beautiful space.
The book ends with some action ideas for sustaining the reef and how it is losing it's color. The message is clear, but I never felt like I was being beat over the head with it. The case is made gently and with beautiful art.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
This book is very beautiful. I liked the story and the message behind the story. I think people of all ages can enjoy this book and the lovely artwork.
This book is filled with exceptionally beautiful illustrations of coral and other marine life. The rainbow colors flow from page to page in exquisite detail.
The story unfolds in inviting rhyme. For me it ended abruptly with a message about saving the dying reef. Honestly, I could have done without that. It seemed to go from a lyrical poem like quality to a warning of imminent death. I think it would have been better to end on a note of concern that would invite conversation about conservation with a child. The final pages contain lots of info about reef ecosystems and what we can do to help preserve them. That information is great to share and discuss with an elementary age child though the rhyme will certainly appeal to toddlers and younger children as well.
Despite the single improvement I would make, this is a great title to add to any collection.
This book would be a great introduction to the coral reef or a unit on the environment and what needs to be done to protect it. It would be good for primary and early junior aged students (6 to 8). The book is written in a rhyming way with a good cadence to read aloud. It talks about the colours and what type of animal or creature lives there. The illustrations are beautiful, colourful and detailed. I can see children spending time just looking for the various creatures hidden in the coral. (the reviews regarding silhouettes must have been an earlier copy of the book) After this great introduction, it then talks about the bleaching and death of the coral reefs based upon global warming. The back of the book has questions with information about coral reefs as well as what we can do to help them. Some great suggestions that anyone could implement. There were a couple of words that I did not know or could not pronounce, so perhaps a glossary or pronunciation guide would be helpful. A great addition to an elementary school library.
I’m not quite sure what the main message of this book is. Is it that we have to protect the coral from bleaching? If so, why is this only mentioned in passing in the last few pages? The pictures are lovely, up until then, and quite enjoyable, but it feels as though they buried the lead.
Probably a good book to introduce the information about coral, but not to state how dire the situation is, which makes me kind of sad. This is an important subject, and could have been presented at least half way though the book.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
A simple, rhyming introduction to a coral reef with a call to help save them.
Beautiful watercolor illustrations accompany short and succinct but sufficient text to introduce kids to the basics of coral and the reefs they form. In the back of book is more information on coral, why bleaching happens, and what average citizens can do to help save the coral reefs from bleaching. The only way this could have been better would be if the coral in the illustrations had been labeled as to which type they were. As it is, you'll be able to do that but will need another source to help. A great read for younger kids about to go snorkeling, studying the ocean or coral, an Earth Day read, or just for the beautiful illustrations.
This is a book begging for help. Help for the coral and the changing climate. The coral is beautiful colors, until it bleaches. And bleaching is bad. The story part of the book is a nice sing song of the animals and colors of the reef. The back matter is all about what is coral, how we can save it, and how we can save our planet.
This book would be good for younger elementary school aged children. The Coral Kingdom tells you about the coral reef - what kinds of sea creatures live near the reef, what harms the reef, how we can help the reef, and why the coral reef is important - using rhyming, which kids tend to like. I think it would be good to have the phonetic pronounciations of some words (like zooxanthellae) to help teachers/parents/reading aged children say them correctly. The illustrations are beautiful.
I really enjoyed this book and with the amount of interest in the oceans at present whether it is from the amount of plastics in them, or global warming, the book is very well timed and ideal to explain to children about what is happening. I loved the images and the layout was very good - 4 stars from me for this one- highly recommended.
Un viaggio nel regno più fantastico che ci sia: la misteriosa foresta (ma di animali, non di piante!) che è la barriera corallina.
Ecosistema delicatissimo e complesso, ricco di vita, a rischio di morte a causa dell'inquinamento: e con i coralli scompaiono tutte gli animali e le piante che veleggiano silenziose e serene sotto le onde, in un tripudio di colori.
Semplici versi e illustrazioni dai colori acquerellati illustrano questo regno da fiaba, ricordandoci che le nostre abitudini quotidiane possono davvero fare la differenza per mondi interi - nel bene e nel male.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review!
I just fell in love with the cover when I spotted it over at Netgalley. It was just so pretty, those rainbow colours, the font. I just wanted to read the book. Thankfully I was accepted to read the book!
And this turned out to be a pretty book inside as well. Rhyming text which made the story more lyrical and pretty, though I have to say that I was mostly focusing on the gorgeous illustrations (so many details, so colourful, even when we got to the sadder part of the book, with the dead coral/reef). Eventually even having to re-read a page as I forgot about the text. :P Hehe. Oopsie!
Yep, this book also brings a message with it. One that I see almost everywhere when books are about reef. What I am talking about? The fact that reefs/coral is dying. And that we, humans, should do something to help prevent that. From being less polluting to being more conservative with what we use to spreading the message. I liked that the last pages were dedicated to that (and were also accompanied by gorgeous illustrations).
Well, I think I have said what I wanted to say about the illustrations, if you haven't gotten the idea yet, I found them beautiful!
All in all, a pretty good book, but again, you may lose track of the rhymes and instead focus on the illustrations!
This is a great introduction to non fiction for children! I loved how it opened up the natural world and even I went away from it with something I hadn't learnt before.
This book was mostly enjoyable, written in simple rhyme with lovely illustrations of coral reefs. I'm a bit confused as to why the parts of the book that described the actual colors of the reef, and actually, the majority of the illustrations period, were shown in silhouette rather than full color. It is pretty as well, but perhaps overdone. We also don't get to see the "bleaching" that results from warming seas, which is described later on.
The text gives some good information about how reefs form, as well as describing some of the animals that make reefs their home. The text turns pretty quickly to urging us to save coral reefs on the last couple pages, though there isn't really enough space to spell out the whys and hows of this sudden appeal, so it felt a bit disjointed to me. Still, it's a nice poem overall. The very last page does give some additional information as to why global warming is hurting the reefs, as well as tips to help keep them healthy.