Somewhere in the Ocean

by Jennifer Ward

Clown fish and other sea creatures help kids count from one to ten

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Poetry, Counting, Storytime, Nature

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Jennifer Ward is the author of more than 25 award-winning nonfiction and fiction books for children and adults.

Her books have been translated into many languages and featured in Martha Stewart's Living, Ranger Rick, on NPR, television's Animal Planet network, and on many popular blogs such as Soule Mama.

Most of Jennifer's books are inspired by science and nature and artfully combine elements of STEM & literacy.

She writes full-time from her home in Illinois where she lives with her husband and two dogs and is easily distracted by everything outside of her windows - particularly if it has feathers!

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this counting book about the ocean and its creatures. It’s also a rhyming book and the illustrations are great. There are hidden number on each set of pages.

[Donna Mork · Rating 4 out of 5]

A counting book about the ocean. Beautifully illustrated and great back matter.

[Kalynne]

Storytime: 75 kids ages 0-5
Book one (3-4) minutes: Here Comes the Ocean by Meg Fleming

Song/rhyme/game one (3-4 minutes): Row Row Row Your boat with actions (pretend to row then whatever)

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream,
If you see a crocodile,
Don’t forget to scream.
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the river,
If you see a polar bear,
Don’t forget to shiver.
Rock, rock, rock the boat,
Gently down the shore,
If you see a dinosaur,
Don’t forget to roar.
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently across the lake,
If you see a jellyfish,
Don’t forget to shake.

Book two (3-4 minutes): To the Sea by Cale Atkinson

Song/rhyme/game two (3-4 minutes): Jellygish Song by GoNoodle

Book three (3-4 minutes): This is Not my Hat by Jon Klassen

Song/rhyme/game three (3-4 minutes): Princess Pat (repeat after me rhyme)

The Princess Pat (Flip hand up into crown)
Lived in a tree (stretch arms out to tree limbs)
She sailed across (move arm like ocean)
The seven C’s (put up 7 fingers then a C)
She sailed across (move arm like ocean)
The channel two (move hand down parallel to eachother then hold up two fingers)
And brought with her (move arm back like you’re saying bring it)
A rig-a-bamboo (do a twist)

A rig-a-bamboo (do a twist)
Now what is that (hold out hands confused)
It’s something made (place fists on top of each other)
By the princess pat (Flip hand up into crown)
Its red and gold (hold out right arm and twist finger round)
And purple too (hold out left arm and twist finger round)
That’s why its called (hold up hands like shouting)
A rig-a-bamboo (do a twist)

Now captain jack (salute)
Had a mighty fine crew (make muscle poses)
They sailed across (move arm like ocean)
The channel too (move hand down parallel to eachother then hold up two fingers)
His boat will sink (point down)
And so will you (point at crowd)
If you don’t have (hold out arms in a guess what gesture)
A rig-a-bamboo (do a twist)

A rig-a-bamboo (do a twist)
Now what is that (hold out hands confused)
It’s something made (place fists on top of each other)
By the princess pat (Flip hand up into crown)
Its red and gold (hold out right arm and twist finger round)
And purple too (hold out left arm and twist finger round)
That’s why its called (hold up hands like shouting)
A rig-a-bamboo (do a twist)

Book Four (3-4 minutes): Somewhere in the Ocean by Jennifer Ward

Special Signs: Ocean, whale, wet, sand, fish

Activity: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/im...

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this one for storytime because I could sing it - worked pretty well although I definitely had to practice some of the rhythms ahead of time. Some of the elements, like the numeral hidden in the illustrations on each spread, work better for individual sharing. Counting the baby animals was more clear on some spreads than others; I was particularly confused on the sea otter spread about which were the babies. Fun facts and the music and chords for the song are included as backmatter. Like all versions of "Over in the Meadow," the song can get a little long for the audience's attention span, but since there's no real narrative thread, you can always quit after any number you choose if needed.

Used for Ocean Themed Outdoor Music and Movement Storytime June 2021.

[Shelby Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely think this is a great book to introduce children to ocean content and explore some of the creatures that live in the sea. This book also rhymes and follows a great pattern, has excellent illustrations, and counts to 10. All around, I think young students would really enjoy this book.
Topics: ocean, ocean life, counting, family, activities of sea life, rhymes.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

This excellent counting book introduces ocean animals and their habitats. The text is to the tune of "Over in the Meadow," and the illustrations include hidden numbers. The seek-and-find element and information about habitats will appeal to school-age kids, and the song and vibrant illustrations are great for little ones.

[Annika Matthias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute book! It was in my top 3 from our library picks this week. The rhythm is so catchy and my little guy wanted to read it several times. The illustrations are very nice and the little dictionary in the back is very informative.

[Clarissa Childress · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for young children who are learning how to count to ten. I think it's fun that the students can find the numbers on the page, hidden around the marine life. It makes counting fun.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another counting book by Jennifer Ward, this time with sea creatures instead of meadow animals.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little rhyming book

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even the older kids had fun looking for the hidden numbers. The pictures were cute

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute book that can be sung while teaching children to count to ten and about the ocean.

[Sydney Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and cute.

[Kaitlin Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so much fun! A sing-song way to learn about the sea. My kind of book. 💕🎶🐬🐠🐡🦈🐙🐚🦀🦑🧜‍♀️🎶💖

[Brady]

Preschool

[Caleb Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about all the different varieties of fish and plants in the ocean.

I would use this book to show a variety of plants, animals, and even use it to count with numbers hidden through the book.

[Caitlyn LeBeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhere in the Ocean by Jennifer Ward, T.J. Marsh, and illustrated by Kenneth Spengler is a children's book about different sea animals. On each page there is a different animal that lives in the ocean. Each page also includes a number representing the number of babies this animals has. As the reader flips to the next page, the number will increase by one. The animals are living there everyday life and the reader gets to explore different scenarios that the animals are in. At the end of the book, the author gives facts about animals talked about in the story such as clown fish, orcas, sharks, turtles, ect. It is an awesome book to read to kids who are either learning how to count or learning about different animals.

Something that I really enjoyed about this book in the rhyming scheme that the author used. They rhymed something about the ocean to the number of babies the animals have. For example on the page about orcas it read, "Somewhere in the ocean in the waters clear and blue, lived a pod of orca whales and their little calves two." There was 2 baby orcas drawn in water that was clear and blue. On another page the text stated, "Somewhere in the ocean in a coral reef den, lived a mother octopus and her little babies ten." This page was illustrated with a mom octopus and her ten babies swimming in a coral reef. Every page used a different rhyme pattern and it is a good way to get children to guess what the number reads because they will know it rhymes with a word that ended the first part of the sentence. Books that rhyme give a happy, easy-going vibe and are interesting to listen to.

Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the pictures. The pages were completely used by not only drawing the animals, but also the environment that the animals lived in. From corner to corner this book had all types of colors. The realism pictures were drawn to show the reader what these animals look like. The colors were bright and the attention to detail was precise. A child could look at the pictures and then be able to recall what the animal was if they saw it in person. If being read this book, the listener had a lot of area to look at and enjoy. The illustrator and author worked together to make you feel as though the reader is actually in the ocean with these magnificent animals.

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

1.I love the illustation in this book. I will have to look up this illustrator Kenneth J spengler and find other books that he has inspired through his art.
2.There are numbers hidden in the illustration of each page of this book. I would not tell the students that there are hidden numbers in this story, just to see how long it will take for them to discover this in the story.
3.This book is about sea animals. At the end of this story there are fun facts about the sea creatures in this story.




Learning Activity

I will crate a game. I will divide the class in half. We will play a game called who am I. I will read a fun fact about the aquatic animanls that are introduced in this story, and students will need to identify the animals by the fun fact. Each teams will received a tally for each correctly answered question.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books to "sing" work well in a library story time. If you're unfamiliar with the tune "Over in the Meadow", click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6ljGX... If you read music, the tune can be found at the back of the book.

Children happily join the performer in the COUNTING aspect of the story and doing the actions suggested by the mother sea creatures to their offspring.

At the end of the book is additional information about all the "stars" of the song. There's plenty of new vocabulary for little ones here -- fun words to say (like "manatee", "orca", "otter") and descriptive illustrations. The song, of course, is all about their habitat and habits. All this makes "learning" fun!

[Jenilyn Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It talked about a lot of different animals in the ocean, but my favorite part was that you sing it in the tune of a song instead of just reading it. To be able to sing in front of your students takes some courage, but I think most children would really enjoy it and it would be something different for them rather than just reading them another book.

[Eddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ward, Jennifer. Somewhere in the Ocean: Cooper Square Publishing Llc
Preschool - 2
Summary: This book teaches you how to count with rhyme driving the story of marine animals and their babies. There are also many numbers hidden in the pictures.
I enjoyed this book and really enjoyed the pictures. All the sea life has smiles on their faces.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could be for younger kids for the teacher to read or older students to read to themselves. It can help with counting but also with rhyming words. You could use prediction with this book and have the child predict what word would come in a certain place because of the rhyme pattern the entire book has.

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and rhythmic book exploring creatures under the sea and counting skills at the same time. Beautiful illustrations and despite some "convenience" errors in the book (mother turtle with babies), there is a lovely extended section at the back which shares real and accurate facts on each of the creatures.
Very educational and fun.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is in the same sing-song rhyme as Over in the Meadow (a very dear favorite when I was a child) only the setting is the ocean. There is also a hidden number in each picture. Audrey loves this one!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teaches children science, vocabulary, and art, throught a rhythm of music and rhyming. The flow and beat of this story automatically engage the listener. This book is creative, beautiful, and fun.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of the read alouds in prep for our March author visit.

Cute illustrations. Hard to find hidden numbers in the pics! Good rhymes (one or two felt a LITTLE forced ... since when do even and seven rhyme?). Kids liked it. Interested to see how the rest of them go!

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains animals, counting, and music. As a teacher you could sing the story to students because it uses a common tune. The sea animals get more numerous on each page. Three clownfish, 4 squid, 5 whales, etc. So it sould also be used for counting.

[Bethann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was shown to my Early Childhood class. Our professor used it to show how you can sing a book to your children. This is something not everyone would be willing to do, but it would be something fun.

[Mary Sesar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a really good book to use with younger children. You can say it as a rhyme or actually sing it to the children. It talks about a lot of ocean life that the children may or may not have heard of.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told in a sing-song style, ocean animals play with their moms.

I love not only the song, but the illustrations, hidden numbers, and ocean animal facts at the end! Need to think of a lesson with this one!