Commotion in the Ocean 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 Commotion in the Ocean 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!).
Age Range: 3 +
Author: Giles Andreae / Illustrator: David Wojtowycz
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