Filled with great facts and thoroughly researched this book weaves together the facts to turn an interesting tale of a wonderful topic into a must read.

Introduction to a number of animals and plants. Good for those who have an interest in the ocean. The places they live in, the types of species. More visual than writing. Great for visuals.

Almost perfect*

This is a solid overview of the ocean environment that should appeal to both visual and book learners. Done in a very friendly format mix of text and colorful doodlesque-pictures, one could read a little or a lot at a time. It's also a book that does a nice job of transcending an age target. I'd comfortably give this to a nine-year-old who was interested in the ocean, but equally, I plan to buy and re-read it myself as an ocean primer. As a swimmer and a snorkeler, much of my information on the ocean has been picked up in a hodge-podge of areas, so I think a solid overview is worth the investment.

The sections include:
1. The ocean: why is it salty, the speed of sound, trade winds, the ocean floor, tides, currents, waves
2. Fish: food chain, bioluminescence, fish anatomy, schools, shark anatomy, jellyfish anatomy, deep sea creatures
3. Whales: anatomy, size comparison, bubble-net feeding, dolphins, echolocation, species, manatees
4. Beaches: sand, tide pools ecosystem, shell anatomy, seaweed, shore birds, ocean birds, crab anatomy, snails and scallops
5. The depths: ocean floor, sea cucumbers, fishes, hunting, octopus, squids, lobster, starfish, anemones, turtles, migrations
6. Reefs: zones, polyps, coral, fish support, the Great Barrier Reef, sea horses, sponges, grasses, nudibranches
7. The arctic: ice, glaciers, icebergs, sea lions and seals, narwhals, penguins, polar bears)
8. Humans and the sea: low and high impact fishing, lighthouses, studying the ocean, studying the sea, sea commerce, climate change, good news.
It also includes a bibliography and recommended reading.

Some of the material is strictly fact presentation (with pictures) that might appeal to readers who like numbers, or who do not already have an appreciation of scale. For instance, the two pages on 'Oceans' describe the maximum depth of each ocean and a fun fact or two.
"Atlantic Ocean: covers 20 percent of the Earth's surface
*slowly growing outward...
*average depth 11,000 feet."
However, it isn't just a litany of numbers. There's description as well, such as how sand can be made of coral, volcanic rock, quartz or seashells, with drawings that illustrate how the textures and sizes differ. Charts are interesting, such as the one that compares types of seashells, or types/sizes of whales and types of dolphins.

Rothman clearly understands that part of the draw of the ocean is its animals, and significant space is devoted to the classic favorites (whales, dolphins, penguins, sea horses) as well as some more unusual and fun creatures (sea cucumbers, nudibranches).

The pictures enable potential intimidating sciencey-stuff (tides, world current flow) seem accessible. The text and mix of information types makes the pictures, and what could be just an encyclopedia of creatures, be more contextual and less overwhelming. Overall, an extremely well done book that I'll look forward to seeing in print.


*my one caveat is that the text--probably in an effort to be fun and add variety--is occasionally in cursive. it's the least readable of the variety of the fonts in this book, not only because it's cursive, but it's a couple grades above physician-level-cursive. I also had to laugh when I saw it, because the State of WI government just had a dust-up over whether or not to mandate schools include cursive writing in their curriculum.

**I'll come back and add pictures after I buy and after publication date


My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, and to Fran for reviewing and bringing it to my attention.

Laying their hands on a Julia Rothman Anatomy book is every reader mom's dream. I was so excited to get a chance to read it as a galley that I skipped a few hours of sleep to finish it cover to cover and take in all the beautiful illustrations.

All you homeschooling moms, if you are doing a water based/ sea based unit study this is your companion. It covers all sorts of water bodies and their inhabitants. From oceans to seas, from beaches to coral reefs, there is all that there is to know and then some more. I have been busy making notes to read up about so many things I read about in this book.

Like her previous books in the series, this one includes encapsulated information, that makes you go in, identify and then learn some more using additional resources. The beach section will equip you to answer any questions your inquisitive kid will dare to throw your way. That's incentive enough to get this book, isn't it? Be the parent who knows all the shell shapes and crab names.

Highly recommended!

What a gorgeous non-fiction book! The illustrations really make it - they are realistic but very stylish watercolour illustrations, and the double page spreads are beautiful. Children 7+ would enjoy it for the illustrations, and 9+ could probably manage the text. The scientific detail is suitable for adult non-specialists too. The only issue I had was that it was occasionally hard to read some of the hand lettered portions in a cursive script - only a problem for the children I was reading with.

Ocean Anatomy is such an aesthetically pleasing, beautiful book! Along with the amazing illustrations, it has some very in depth information about the ocean, and the interesting creature that live in it. I would definitely purchase this book and use it as a coffee table book, or gift it to a kid that is willing to learn!

A commendable non-fiction graphic novel-styled guide to the world of, and in, our seas and oceans. We get the anatomy of whales, sharks, dolphins etc right down to jellyfish, we see the geography of the deeps, and a whole lot more. It's hard to fault, in fact – or would be, if only they had seen how unreadable so much of the cursive script actually is. Not all the text is in that font, but more than enough, which kind of spoils the pleasure to be had with this. There's no concession to entertainment, and sometimes little in the way of sort of narrative logic – we just get factual detail after factual spread, and information after diagram after information. So if you're in the market for such an educative book, then go for it – but damn them for the cursive.

I loved this book and enjoyed every minute I passed engrossed in its pages. Through the years, I’ve read a whole lot of books about the ocean and this one took me by surprise, quickly taking a place among my favorites. But let me give you a bit of story to put in context how much I liked it:

I was 5 years old and had recently learned to read when my mother took me to a bookstore. She had to attend some event, the nanny hadn’t come, and it was getting late. I got my jacket, jumped in the backseat of the car, and Mom hoped I would be entertained enough among the many books to let her listen to whoever she was going there to see.

Two hours (or perhaps more, I was only five you can’t ask me to be precise) she came to find me sitting in a corner reading a book. It was not a children’s book, it was a book about whales. And the ocean. And currents. And waves. It was a heavy book—I nearly topped backwards getting it off the shelf—and it was full of the most wonderful pictures I’d ever seen.

The words were hard for me, many I didn’t know, but I pushed through and managed to read a few pages. But the event was over and it was time to leave. So then and there, I decided I wasn’t leaving this wonderful book behind. It was coming with me. Mom wasn’t thrilled. The book was expensive, and she couldn’t imagine I would have much use for in it once other more suitable activities would be available. She took the book from me and put it back in the shelf. It didn’t go well. I cried, and begged and held my breath. She simply pulled me up into her arms and started walking towards the exit. But fate has its trick and a friend of my mom came to say goodbye, noticing my tears she asked why? I explained about the wonderful book and all, and she said (yes, this I remember very well): “I wished my children cried for books instead of throwing tantrums about TV or candy.” That was enough. Mom felt guilty (or so she says). After all, she had dragged her five year old to a bookstore on a Saturday afternoon to an event that was absolutely not child friendly. So I got my book and it has been a long time, a very long time, since a book about the ocean had have such a big impact on me. A long time until I started reading Ocean Anatomy by Julia Rothman.

This book is a joy to read. In fact, just looking at the wonderful and colorful illustrations was enough for me to relived that joy I first felt as a five year old learning about the ocean. Now, bear in mind my love affair with books about the ocean (and the ocean itself) is a long one, one that led me to become an oceanographer and make my living studying the oceans. So, as I said, I’ve read plenty of books on the matter, some for fun, some because I had too, but not many of the I have found as entertaining and beautiful as this one.

Julia Rothman has chosen among the many topics concerning the ocean to offer the reader an interesting selection that includes many facts about the living parts of the ocean—like algae and fish and plankton and seals and whales and birds—as well as some of its non-living but very animated components—like waves and currents and wind and chemical composition and deep-sea sediments—without forgetting to explain how we collect and generate new knowledge about all those many things.

I love that page 119 is dedicated to what I do, but the whole of this book is packed with information, offering something for every taste. Significantly, as the many concepts presented are explained in such a way they’re easy to understand, learning doesn’t feel like a chore but becomes a pleasure. A trait highlighted by the scientifically correct but also exquisite illustrations filling each page and accompanying each topic.

I got to read this book before its publication date thanks to NetGalley, but I liked it so much I already preorder me a hard copy.

Love this book as much as her other anatomy books! So much information crammed into a not very big book! Love the softness of the illustrations and the further reading suggestions in the back. Every library and classroom should have these books.

Inspired by Blue Planet? Most people were.
But do you really want to understand more about our oceans? This book will teach you.
For those of us who would have loved to be marine biologist, but who just didn't have those abilities or didn't make it for other reasons, this book is perfect.
It does contain A LOT of information so it's not a leisurely read and does require a bit of thinking, but it does have drawings - lots of them!
It takes you into the science of oceans, why they are there, how different waters develop, most importantly which animals live in them.
This is a journey to the depths (literally) of our planet and I thouroughly enjoyed it.

This is beautifully illustrated and informative! It has the power to grab the attention of any reader, from old to young or from the beginner junior scientist to an advanced oceanographer. Really well done.

After downloading the program required to read this book, I can honestly say that I enjoyed this one. It's right in my area of interest and I plan on buying a physical copy to refer to and use with my students.

My favourite book of 2019! I even preordered the hardcopy version. Really loved this, the drawings are very fun, cute, colourful and well done. A lot of things around ocean-life are explained in an easy to read manner. It's a great book for adults and older children who are interested in ocean life. This is one I will keep going back to!

Incredibly informative and beautifully illustrated.
This is my first book from Julia Rothman's hugely successful 'Anatomy' series, but I already checked my library and am on the list for her Nature Anatomy.
The content covers every imaginable angle of the world related to oceans and marine life. The information is presented in extremely clear and accessible way and is bound to appeal to both children and adults who love to learn something new every day. Ideal for homeschoolers, but also any classroom or household where curiosity and research is encouraged.
Thank you to NetGallley and Storey Publishing for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book was absolutely gorgeous and so informative. The illustration style is incredible and very well done. I have a 3 year old who loved the book and did enjoy some of the content even at this age!

I absolutely love Julia Rothman's Anatomy series. These illustrated guides are such an aesthetically pleasing way to learn a wide variety about a topic. I'm always inspired to use them as a springboard to research things in more detail.

Ocean Anatomy is amazing just for its illustrations but the content is brilliant too. My three year old really enjoyed it. I will be definitely adding it to our collection!

A great book for young readers with an interest in learning more about our oceans. Good information and fun, engaging visuals. I appreciated how the author gently touched on very serious animal rights issues such as shark finning and polar bear endangerment, but I would've loved to have seen more!! I couldn't help but notice other mainstream issues such as dolphin drives and seal hunting etc were never mentioned. I also would've liked more on the general topic of the human impact on our oceans (both good and bad) and some things that the young people of today can do to help minimise harm. Good book overall though.

nonfiction, science, marine, geology

Take my money! Wonderfully illustrated history and physical of the earth's oceans and inhabitants. While it seems to be viewed as a book for children, the information and technical verbiage kind of belies that narrow definition. I promote it as for ages 8 to 108! Can't wait to go out and buy several print copies for others!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Storey Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!

I was so excited to see another book by Julia Rothman, especially one about the ocean. I'd read Nature Anatomy with my kids earlier this year and we absolutely loved it. As expected, this one does not disappoint.

Ocean Anatomy jumps right in, explaining answers to kids' most commonly asked questions, like why the ocean is blue, and where the salt in the water comes from, all with gorgeous illustrations. It then moves on to more complex topics, such as the tides, plate tectonics, the food web, and more. There's a wealth of information in this book, but what I love most about it is that it's detailed without being overwhelming. Julia's books make science accessible to people of all ages, while keeping it interesting for older kids and adults. I cannot recommend this book enough!