Thank you Net Galley and QEB Publishing for an ARC of The Sea Below My Toes of Charlotte Guillain. Beautifully drawn picture book that explores the levels of the vast and diverse ocean. It begins at the Sunlight Zone, moves through the Twilight and Midnight Zones and ends at the deepest Abyssal Zone. Each section contains illustrations of the animals and plants that live in each zone with short passages with interesting details about the zone. This book doesn't every living thing in each zone, that would be impossible. The author includes some common (sea lion, eels, kelp) and unique (blobfish, snailfish, gulper eel) creatures that could generate good conversations or questions for each zone. This book would be great for elementary age students or as a read aloud with an adult.

This book will captivate readers as it takes them on a guided tour of the deep sea. With information ranging from magma to fish to plant life and even the light sources underwater, this book has an extensive amount of information about almost anything you want to know about the ocean. The text is mainly black in a fairly easy to read font imposed on a light colour semi translucent text bubble over an area of the illustration. As a result, it is usually fairly easy to read, but at times is a bit more challenging depending on what shape and colour of illustrations are under the bubble. There are multiple text bubbles per page with anywhere from 1-5 sentences. The content does have some scientific and content area vocabulary and would likely need to be read with an adult if the child is just beginning to read, but I think most grade 3-5 students would be able to read the majority of it independently. There does not appear to be a glossary or index or other text structures to help students comprehend the text, but I don't think that is too big of a deal. I read an ebook copy and I would be really interested to see the book as a paper copy because the ocean zones are labeled at the top of the pages and they seem to line up with previous pages, I think it would be neat to see how it all comes together in the print form. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

The Sea Below My Toes will capture young readers from the first page. It is highly engaging and is written in such a way kids will want to read it again and again. Each time they will discover something new about life under the sea. Excellent book for teaching kids how to research a topic. The language and vocabulary used throughout the book are very helpful for growing young readers and fostering their own bank of vocabulary. Highly recommend!

This book is a beautifully illustrated trip through every depth of the see. The facts were written in such a poetic way. I will definitely buy myself a copy and will recommend it to teachers and parents alike. Perfect for classroom libraries

This book was packed with information. I liked that it went through each of the depths in the ocean and went into detail about the animals that live in each section. The illustrations were great and I can't wait to get this book for my classroom and my kids. Thank you #netgalley for a copy of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Quarto for the ARC of this!

It’s absolutely gorgeous - the art was just stunning. The language and text was a good amount, level, and was full of interesting facts. My one “complaint” is that they go from the top down, top again and back down. I think it would’ve made way more sense to double up areas so like was with like OR to go top down and then back up through the zones until you hit top again. I actually paused part way in to be sure it was in the right order in my ARC, because it seemed wrong 😂

THANK YOU to QEB Publishing & NetGalley for sending me this ARC. All reviews are honest reflections of my own opinions, always.

The ocean is a vast, fantastic place full of wonder & beauty, filled with creatures big & small.

This beautiful picture book is an invitation to join in the journey, exploring the ocean zones from Sunlight to Abyssal. Encountering creatures in each of these ocean habitats, along with some human interventions, the reader gets a clear view of what one cannot readily see from the surface. From tiny zooplankton the giant whales, the reader meets many who make the ocean waters their home.

Beautiful semi-realistic watercolor illustrations, creatures both familiar & ones I hadn't heard much about, or at all. The writing & descriptions are enough to hold the attention of children & adults alike, making this a perfect read along book. The lack of evolutionary timelines, scales, changes, etc. was much appreciated, as the book focuses solely on the animals & geography itself.

The author goes through the zones, returning to the beginning, then goes through again. I would much have preferred a single, cohesive line, but this personal preference in no way detracts from the book.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. We put our feet in the ocean every day but do we ever think about what is below that water line? This book will show a child the many things that could be below.

A book that explores what’s in the ocean! It goes through different ocean zones and what creatures can be found there. So many different creatures included! There is a lot of info on every page so this is not for beginner readers (but would still be a good book to read aloud to kids).

This book was a neat one with fantastic illustrations! It was informative and contained a lot of random facts about the ocean and its inhabitants. There is a decent amount of text, so it is better suited for elementary aged students, rather than preschool aged, if reading it in its entirety. I did find it interesting that it dives through the ocean zones twice rather than covering everything in one before moving onto the next. Overall, a great book that would be a fun addition to an ocean unit or to read for fun.

As the reader turns the pages, the text and illustrations move from the sunlight zone down to the twilight zone. Animals change too, in a fascinating range of creatures with different sizes, shapes, and abilities. The Sea Below My toes introduces readers to sea life in a fascinating way. The placement of the text and illustrations vary in a pleasing way. The information is new and intriguing. We get a sense of the wide variety of animal life and how each animal survives in its habitat. This book is a pleasure to read, informative, and worth a second, third, or fourth look or more.

I requested this book because I wanted to learn about the sea and its creatures, to garner a little general knowledge and wow did I not only get information but I was in awe by the time I finished this book.
In awe because there are so many different creatures all unique and integral, from a small clownship and anemone to the biggest whales, all of them serve a purpose and have created balance in their world. If one specie perishes, the whole system would crumble.
Seriously humbled and in awe of God right now.

I knew about clownfish because of the famous movie Finding Nemo and I knew that even that small fish has a unique characteristic, helping it to survive. And like clownfish, there are so many other creatures that I didn't know about, creatures that looked innocent enough or small or powerless but had a unique characteristic that helped it survive the predators. Made me think of two things
1) never judge a book by its cover
2) all of us humans with all our different quirks and characteristics are there for a reason, it's quite strange that a children's book about sea creatures made me realise my worth, no matter how fleeting that feeling is, it still made me realise we're all here on this earth for a reason and we're perfect exactly the way that we are.

Coming back to this book, the illustrations were really adorable and accurate. It wasn't too cartoonish which I loved because I could really visualise the creature and understand the important points highlighted about it.
A few, like 4 or 5 illustrations and explanations were a bit confusing because there were so many drawings on that particular page that I couldn't match certain explanations with their creatures.
I am truly in awe of nature and I loved every bit of this book that was illustrated and written in such a fun yet informative way that I felt like I was truly experiencing this dive...
Highly recommend to children and adults alike who want to learn about the sea.

The Sea Below My Toes
by Charlotte Guillain

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book with my 5 and 8 year old boys. They are big time fans of Octonaughts on Netflix so this was a hit with them and they were already familiar with most of the marine life. The gorgeous illustrations are laid out in a fascinating continuous manner that displays the progression of life as we travel deeper into the water. The information is short but substantial. I would recommend this book for 5-10 year olds to read independently or with a grown up. Younger children may not have the attention span appropriate for the length of text. The details in the pictures will bring kids back again and again. 5/5

The Sea Below My Toes is an interesting and informative picture book about the different sea zones. I read this story using my NetGalley app and it was really cool to scroll down through the pages and see how all the pictures connected together as you "swam" lower and lower down the sea. There is a lot of informative text about different creatures and lifeforms that you'd encounter in every zone. The illustrations are unique and colorful and draw you in while reading the text!

This book has a lot of lengthy text which might make it difficult for young readers. However, they'd enjoy exploring the different pictures throughout the book. Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

The Sea Below My Toes was such a cool book, filled with facts and illustrations of all the creatures of the sea!! I loved the idea of moving lower and lower below the surface.

The Sea Below My Toes is a wonderful educational book about what lives in the sea. It goes by depth highlighting animals and plant life. The illustrations are gorgeous and children will love to consider the diversity of life in the ocean. I would recommend this for Kindergarten to Second Grade as there is a bit of text.

Thank you QEB Publishing and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.