Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae
Age Range: 3 to 7
This is a fabulous, rhyming, non fiction picture book that introduces a wide range of fish and animals. I have bought this for several children as a present, used it in the classroom and finally bought it for my daughter for International Book Giving Day!
I like the way that children are introduced to different fish and animals through a short verse accompanied by a bright, bold, colourful illustration. Each animal (including penguins, polar bears and turtles) or fish (including jelly fish, angel fish and swordfish) is introduced on a separate page or spread. The book provides lots of scope for discussion and the picture on the final page invites the reader to name some of the creatures introduced throughout the book.
I have used this book successfully in the classroom with non native English speakers. The (mostly!) rhyming text is easy to read aloud (a few words don’t rhyme completely e.g. funny / tummy) but it would still be a good book to teach rhyme (useful to point out how difficult it can be to find a complete rhyme for some words!).
I have also listed the other books in this series which I would also recommend (the only one we haven’t read is Dinosaurs Galore).
Author: Giles Andreae / Illustrator: David Wojtowycz
We also like The Lion who wanted to Love by Giles Andreae. Read the recommendation here.
The Picture Book Review also recommends Captain Flinn and The Pirate Dinosaurs by Giles Andreae.
February 18, 2013 Monday at 9:18 am





These look like they would be fun books to use with my students.
These are great books to use in the classroom. A friend of mine asked the children in her class to write their own poem about a sea creature of their choice, she said they had a lot of fun.