I Am a Sea Horse: The Life of a Dwarf Sea Horse

by Trisha Speed Shaskan, Todd Ouren (Illustrator)

Overview

I live above the coral reef and can change my color to match it. Come and ride the waves with me. I am a dwarf seahorse, and I love to take it easy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781404847286
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	09/01/2008
Series:	I Live in the Ocean
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.31(d)
Lexile:	650L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Trisha Speed Shaskan was born and raised in Winona, Minnesota, where she waterskied on the Mississippi River, played basketball, and skateboarded. She has written more than forty books for children and taught creative writing to children and teens. Trisha received a 2012 Minnesota State Artist’s Initiative Grant. She won the 2009 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Writers, Loft Award in Children’s Literature/Older Children. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Stephen Shaskan, who is a children’s book author and illustrator.

Editorial Reviews

Sometimes the most amazing ocean dwellers are not the big ones like whales, dolphins, or sharks. Rather, the downright tiny critters who quietly hide amidst the seaweed are the ones to attract a child’s attention at an aquarium visit. Such is the case of the dwarf seahorse. This book, part of the “I Live in the Ocean” series, satisfies a young reader’s curiosity as to what it is like to be such a small fish in a huge ocean. The book’s format includes clear, colorful, close-up illustrations and first person narrative as well as details about such subjects as mating behavior, reproduction, avoiding predators, hunting prey, physiology, and survival in the sea horse’s big world. The book can be read aloud to a classroom or single student using the narrative, then studied using the details near the bottoms of the pages. The book includes a body chart, glossary, list of “fun facts,” bibliography, age-appropriate web site and an index.

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database

I Am a Seahorse is a feel-good book packed with tons of fun facts that left me with a warm glow inside and a smile on my face. It tells the little-known story about the life cycle and adaptations of a sea horse in a charming way, providing a starting point for further investigations of life in the sea. Sea horses, dainty and long-loved by children, are actually highly adapted fish that use unusual structures and methods of finding food, finding a mate, and reproducing. Their watery world is beautifully described and brightly illustrated for elementary children. It really is a quick read that even middle school children will enjoy because it is jam-packed with pictures and words that show how the sea horses' body structures enable them to survive in a very unique way. The book makes you slow down and appreciate a creature so different from humans, but so exceptional that it is irreplaceable as an organism living on planet Earth. It might be followed by Nova's Kingdom of the Sea Horse video and will undoubtably lead students to dive further into the wonders of life in the sea.

National Science Teachers Association

Reviews: Coral Reefs & I Am a Sea Horse As you’re heading to the beach this spring break, maybe you want to learn a little about sea life. Why not introduce your kids to some interesting creatures in the ocean with these two picks? Coral Reefs by Laura Purdie Salas Illustrated by Jeff Yesh What exactly is a coral reef? Is it a plant? Is it a living organism? And how does it affect our lives? These questions and more answered in this colorful book from Picture Window books. Coral Reefs takes young readers (K-3) through this amazing ecosystem. Maybe your kids are familiar with a certain clown fish named Nemo. Why not show them Nemo’s real life habitat? Readers learn what a coral reef is, how it’s formed, what animals make reefs their home, where they’re found and other facts. The bright and colorful illustrations will catch a child’s eye with sea turtles, fish, and anemones under the sea. In the back pages, you’ll find a craft project to make your own coral reef diorama. Also included are a glossary and Capstone’s FactHound educational research service. Coral Reefs is part of the Amazing Science: Ecosystem series. I Am a Sea Horse by Trisha Speed Shaskan Illustrated by Todd Ouren Did you know a sea horse doesn’t have scales, but skin? Or that sea horses don’t have teeth or a stomach, but suck food in through a snout? Take a trip under the sea with a dwarf sea horse! I Am a Sea Horse takes readers through the life cycle of a sea horse, and along the way, readers learn facts about these remarkable little creatures. See what they eat and how they escape their enemies. The sea comes alive as the digital illustrations of the sea horses seem almost photograph-like. Educational material includes diagrams of the sea horse anatomy, a glossary, fun facts, and a link to the FactHound educational service. I Am a Seahorse is part of the I Live in the Ocean series. http://brimeetsbooks.com/?p=1361

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