The Commotion in the Ocean

by Giles Andreae, David Wojtowycz (Illustrator), Hugh Laurie (Reader)

Collects poems describing the many creatures living beneath the sea, including the crab, dolphin, and angel fish.

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction, School

1 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 1998

About the author

Giles Andreae is the author of several children's books, including the best-selling Giraffes Can't Dance, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees. He is the creator of Purple Ronnie, one of the most successfully licensed cartoon characters in his native England.

Giles lives with his wife and three children in Notting Hill, England.

Reviews

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about sea creatures. Gets little ones to identify the ocean animals with weird adult noises. Lol

[Jen Borlick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Speaking as a former animal educator, this book made me angry. My opinion is that if you are going to write about animals and describe them and their habitats you should have basic knowledge of them. I'll give artistic license to some of it. The things that I had to (and have to now with my own children) unteach children are: sharks aren't mean, swordfish don't skewer their food, stingrays don't electrocute prey, and penguins and polar bears don't live on the same hemispheres. Also, when we got to the fun deep sea fish which the children don't see often, they were shoved into a two page spread and none of the fish were identified. And, to enrage the grammarian in me, the plural of fish is "fish." If you're going to write to young children and influence young minds, get your facts straight.
I do concede that the artwork and page layout were fantastic. I did enjoy animal descriptions that were "fun" like the octopus, dolphins, crabs and turtles.

[Oliver Radtke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished reading “Commotion in the Ocean” by Giles Andreae. This book is about many of the animals that live in the ocean, and that live around the ocean. It talks about all of the fish, the ones that live in shallow waters, all the way to the ones that live in deep sea at the bottom of the ocean. This book also shows animals that live out of the water as well. Like the sea turtle, crabs, polar bears, and walruses.

The characters in the book are all of the animals that live in the ocean that are described in the book. It describes many of them. Like the shark, it eats other fish. The stingray will sting other creatures with the stinger on its tail. Also the blue whale, the biggest beast on the planet.

The book takes place in modern time. The place is in the ocean, and on land near oceans. Many of the animals in the book live in many different areas of the world. Some on the top of the world or on the bottom in Antarctica.

I would recommend this book to kids in elementary school or someone that just wants to read a easy and fun book. The book rhymes and also has many facts and information on each of the animals.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In “Commotion in the Ocean” it shows most of the animals that are in the ocean and some on land. Each animal in this story has its own place to live and why it lives there. Some of the animals live both in the sea and on land.

It is about all the different animals in the sea. The main plot is a little confusing, because it just shows you what all the sea creatures do and it doesn't have a real story behind it.

The characters in this book are all sea creatures/ animals. One of the animals is a sea turtle. The book then describes where a sea turtle lives, where they lay their eggs, and what they eat.

I would recommend this book to teachers that read out loud to their class or to children that are just starting to read. Its a very easy read and quick story. This story gets its point across in a very simple way. I would say children 2-5 could read it or look at it and get the story.

[Brandon Loehrke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this childrens book. This book is full of good illustrations and tons of ocean animals. This book is about all of the creatures in the ocean. The book tells about what they eat, where they live and why they live there.

There are no main characters in this book. The book just consists of animals in the ocean, such as sharks, whales, and an octopus. The book then goes into details about the animals.

The setting of “Commotion in the Ocean” takes place in the big, open ocean. The time period of this book is not stated.

The main theme is how every animal in unique in its own way. They all have different diets, places they live and the activities they do. No animal is the same.

I would recommend this book to younger children. This book is full of good illustrations and teaches children about the animals in the ocean.

[Hailee Gorges · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Commotion in the Ocean" is such a cute book. I really enjoyed it. This book is perfect for children learning to read. It has great illustrations and it's really easy to read. This book shows children what all goes on in the ocean. I recommend this book to children first learning to read because it's simple and teaches children about animals in the ocean.

[Miranda Potratz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading the book "Commotion in the Ocean". It was a fun read as I got to read it to my younger cousin Elizabeth. It was interesting to see the difference in reaction throughout the book. She asked a lot of questions seeming very interested in learning about the different creatures. She said when she grows up she wants to live in the ocean. To her disappointment I had to tell her that was not possible. Other than that, she said she liked the book because of all the pictures, colors, and learned that whales are really big.

This book is about all different kinds of fish and animals that live in and around the sea. It explains each of the creatures telling what they look like and how they live. This book teaches that the ocean is way more than just a mass of water. It shows that it is a home to more living things than anyone can imagine. I believe the purpose of this book is to educate people on creatures of the sea. There is not specifically a theme in this book.

The characters in this book are all animals and fish. It tells about crab, turtles, dolphins, angel fish, jellyfish, shark, swordfish, octopus, stingray, lobster, whale, walrus, penguins, and polar bears.

The setting of the story takes place in present day fiction. The story is told about the ocean. All the animals live under water or by the sea.

I would recommend this book for children in elementary school. It is a fun read and teaches the reader more about the ocean.

[Chloe Dehler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to read the book “Commotion in the Ocean” because the illustrations on the front cover caught my attention. “Commotion in the Ocean” is a children’s picture book. The book was very well illustrated and written. The book is written and illustrated by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz. The book shows many different sea animals from crab to sharks and many more.

The book takes place in the Ocean. The book is written in tiny poems. For each animal there are four to five line poems about each creature. The book has many characters including sharks, whales, crab, turtles, and many more. The authors use very descriptive words when describing the animals and the poem is rhymed.

“Commotion in the ocean” is a great book for children. On each page there is a different type of animal with a creative rhyme to follow. My favorite was the whale because one of my favorite animals is a whale.

The narrators of the story are both authors Giles and David. They tell the story from their point of view and of what they think of the creatures.

I would recommend this book to parents who have little kids. I would also recommend this book to teachers from grades kindergarten to third grade. All boys and girls would love to read or listen to this book.

[Brady Bonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the book Commotion in the Ocean because it teaches young kids about the different types of animals in the sea and how they interact with each other. It used colorful pictures to tell about the different animals that live in the sea. I also enjoyed how the story got my sisters interested in it and learned off of it to.

The characters in this book are all different kinds of creatures that live in the ocean or next to it. It tells how they live and what they eat to survive. It also tells about how they get along with each other. My sisters enjoyed learning new things about penguins because they have stuffed animals like the penguins.

This book takes place in the ocean where all the animals live. It also shows where cold water animals live in the Arctic. The book shows how these places around the world look. The story is set in modern day earth become is shows animals of this time period.

I would recommend this book to little children because it will teach them about the ocean and all the animals that live together in it,they will like the colorful pictures in the book.

[Clementine Lagarde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Commotion in the Ocean is a wonderful book to use when doing the topic of under the sea. It has beautiful illustrations and wonderful rhyming poems.

Each page in the book depicts the animal in the picture through a rhyming poem. It starts with the walking sideways crab, the turtle babies hatching and the squeaking dolphins. Followed by a beautiful angle fish, a jiggly jellyfish, a grinning shark, a hungry swordfish, a motherly octopus, a stinging stingray and a snippety lobster. The book then leads into the deep sea where the most amazing creatures you could ever see. The huge blue whale then takes up two pages with its barnacle friends to help him clean! Then the bellowing walruses, and the penguins and polar bears.

This book would be best suited for children in Nursery up to Key Stage 1. Within Nursery to introduce the animals in the sea and Key Stage 1 to discuss rhyming.

[Marmee Zen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The age 2.5 child was so busy asking, "What's that?" and pointing at every colorful picture in the book it took us a few days to actually get around to the story. The beginning and end of the story have several stanzas with one picture page so I was skeptical about how those pages would hold my child's attention span but found he was willing to hear it all most times as long as I spent sufficient time answering all of his questions about the picture details. The inner pages are poetic in their descriptions of each undersea creature so my child is cued to remember something about each animal in addition to its name. The poetic cadence and easy wording also lends itself well to reading in voices and/or with great feeling.

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly superlative pop-up picture book of life at the bottom of the ocean. Its full of hilarious little details like a pull tab to move two frightened little starfish behind some coral and out of the way of the great big shark whose jaws snap open and shut as you open/close the book.

Wonderful.

[Kori Looker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is just fantastic! I loved this book! I suggest this book to be read to toddlers. The pictures and wording is great for learning at a young age. There is rhyming, fun pictures of sea creatures, and big letters in this book. Any parents out there who want a book that will have a positive learning effect on their children, this is the book! Check it out.

[Vibiana Cruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was kind of funny but educational at the same time. It talks about the types of creatures that live in the ocean. It teaches kids and older people in a fun way the things you can find under the ocean. I recommend this book to mostly younger kids but also could work for older people because everyone can enjoy and learn from this book.

[Mariah Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Commotion in the Ocean" takes kids through a journey in the ocean. I would definitely get this book for kids ages three to five. It informs children about life under the sea such as: stingrays’ tails are dangerous, so don't go near them. The illustrations are very cute and lifelike. My little cousin enjoyed it very much. I would rate this book a five for children’s books because it's cute.

[Sarah A · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super fun and educational book of rhyming verses about various ocean creatures. My daughter and I really enjoyed this book - beautiful easy words for her to read and gorgeous rhymes to enjoy! Thanks to my sister for this birthday gift!

[Sue Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bright, colourful and great for young children. This book takes us through a number of creatures living in the ocean. It's bound to prompt plenty of discussion and further exploration of life at the seaside and in the sea.

[Vaiva Paulauskaite · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing this as an early years educator: I liked how some parts of the book rhymed well but it wasn’t enough to keep the children’s attention. Based on the amount of words on each page, I would guess that the book is aimed at 3-4 year olds, yet it is wayy too simple for that age, thus after reading it once, they lost interest in the book immediately. Not informative and not engaging enough.

[Bekah Hartley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little ones will love looking at the colourful pictures and joining in with all the great sound words, as they discover all sorts of amazing sea creatures. Including blue whales, sea turtles, jellyfish, dolphins and more!
Each page introduces a different animal, with a short read-aloud rhyme.

[Emily Carlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short poems about ocean creatures. Maybe not my top choice for a read aloud, but we could pick and choose.

[Srujan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The other ones in the series, Mad about Mega and Mini Beasts are much more fun than this one.

[Steven Butcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some lovely sea creatures i like the shark with its big grin 😀

[Tugba]

I think that the book is a really good way to introduce creatures and animals that live in the sea to the children in a way they would understand and remember.

In the book the author gave facts about the animals but the author made it seem like the animals were speaking directly to the children for example, the swordfish said, "I like to chase after small fishes" and this would engage the children and make it seem like they understand the animals language.

After the author spoke about shark, octopus, swordfish, lobster, stingray, etc, the author then went into detail and spoke about the "deep sea" there are short paragraphs that has four lines and a few words in each line and after they have explained what it is and what could be found there the author then gives short summaries about the animals that lives in the deep sea. for example, "miles below the surface, where the waters dark and deep" it short and detailed at the same time for the children to understand. At the very end there is a question for the children such as "can you name the friends we have made along the way, see if you can tell me who they are" this would encourage the children to think back on the animals and try to remember what they already know.

[Brianny Ewards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Commotion in the Ocean was a brightly colored book with illustrations that filled the entire page to grab the attention of the child. I love how the book's introduction (first page) is like a look into what the entire book will be about. The introduction gives the children a visual of the ocean and land as if they were actually able to see underwater or actually attend a beach. The introduction also goes in to detail of some animals that live in the ocean. As the book proceeds, each page is dedicated to the animals listed from the very first page and breaks down a couple of facts about them but incorporates rhyming words to make it interesting for the child to listen to and be able to put theirselves into. I feel as though this book in a way takes children on a journey while still physically being in class.

I love how Giles Andreae shows who the animals are and gives children an idea of the life of that specific animal through a poem structure. Although Andreae is talking about some facts of the animals, the rhyming words add sort of like a twist to catch the attention of the reader. This book grabs your attention even before opening it to look inside which is very essential because kids tend to decide on books based off if the cover looks interesting. This book has your attention the entire time from the bright colors to to different facial expressions on the animals to the big letters to emphasize animals. I loved this BOOK! I definitely felt as though I took a field trip under water without actually being there.

[Taylor Richarsdon]

Title: Commotion in the Ocean
Author: Giles Andreae
Plot: This plot is chronological in taking readers on a journey from the sandy beach to the bottom of the ocean, exploring all of the animals and creatures in between.
Characters: The characters in this story all all static. We don't ever get to know any one character, we just briefly meet them as we go through the ocean.
Main Conflict: There is no conflict in this book.
Main Theme: The main theme is explicit. This book is meant to be an informational nonfiction book that teaches young readers new vocabulary about the ocean and those who live in it.
Authors style: This author uses inviting pictures to keep readers attention as they are learning about all of the creatures that live in or around the ocean.
Design and Layout: I enjoyed how as you are going through the story you are 'meeting' all of the different animals and learning about them.
Lessons and Standards: K-LS1-1 Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals need to survive. This book to be read aloud and then the teacher could conduct a conversation about what is needed for these animals that we just read about to survive. 2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. Use the habitats discussed in this book to compare to other habitats for this lesson.
Overall Assessment: I really enjoyed the journey readers go on in this book. The pictures are fun and inviting and you don't even realize you are reading a nonfiction book!

[Ryan Pomerenke · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Commotion in the Ocean” is a book for children that incorporates the use of both poetry and rhymes to describe an array of sea creatures. There are also colorful illustrations that accompany each description.

The author, Giles Andreae, is the narrator. He uses both direct and indirect characterization in the form of short, rhyming stanzas to chronicle the characters. The sea creatures in the book range from a tiny barnacle to a massive blue whale.

“Commotion in the Ocean” is set in all of the seas that cover the world. There is no specific time frame in which the book itself covers.

I took a couple main ideas from reading this story. Due to the apparent difference from one creature to another, I concluded that everybody is their own individual. Also, I gathered the fact that everybody plays a different role in their society.

This book did not amuse me whatsoever. Because it is filled with pictures, is not challenging at all, and is very short, I’d recommend this book to young boy or girl that has just begun to read. I would recommend it to an elementary school teacher or a parent, too.

[Sierra Miedaner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Commotion in the Ocean is a great book for educators to read to children, advancing their knowledge of the ocean and its inhabitants. This book will capture the attention of the readers, as the pictures are very bright and colorful, exactly what young children like to see. The illustrations of all the ocean animals go into great detail and portray the animals as happy and important characters in the story of life. The syntax is also very effective to keep the readers engaged, as it has good rhythm and flow, rhyming to make it an easy read for kids. Finally, it also sends a great message that each and every animal is important, due to the food chain. Without one another, it would fail. So it sends a significant lesson that we should help keep the oceans clean, so that the animals are happy in their environments, keeping the food chain alive.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am on vacation for a week with my just 2-year old granddaughter. We are staying on the beach on the West Coast. So this book was my nod to where we are and something she’d take home for memories.

It’s a book about the ocean and who/what live in its waters. For the most part I really liked the poems. There were one or two I found a bit grizzly (scary?) for a very young child. So in true adult fashion I just skip over those parts. Enough time for her to hear the reality of life.

Actually I think this book is more suited to an older (4-6) child. Bean just turned 2 and some of the poems were a tad long. So I paraphrased and moved on. I can see this being a book she will grow into word-wise. Just letting her look at the pictures and talk seems to be good for now.

[Karissa Dingess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is so cute! I felt like this was a good read especially for younger kids. Throughout the book we are taken on a journey where we explore all the different critters down in the ocean. This books not only very educational and fun but also really beautiful to look at with all the beautiful colors in its illustrations! I love the ocean and what it has in store and I feel like this book really captures the magic of the creatures who we really don't see quite often. This book helps young readers to learn more about what these creatures do or what they do according to who they are. I suggest this book because its fun and its bright colors capture your attention. If you haven't already you should check this book out!

[Chloe Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book talks about the different animals like sharks, octopus, and many different fish in the ocean and they describe the in detail. The story is told from the animal's point of view. They also talked about crabs, walruses, and polar bears that live on land but close to the water. This book will be a great way to peak a child's interest in animals.

I would use this in the classroom to introduce the students to the animals in the ocean but I will also pair it with a fictional book of a certain ocean animal and one animal that lives on land. This will help me introduce said animals for that day of teaching.