Ocean

DK Eyewitness Books

by D.K. Publishing

Engaging and entertaining reference guide about the Ocean - perfect for younger readers.

From the craft that investigated the wreck of the Titanic to how octopuses make use of jet propulsion: Eyewitness Ocean lets your child learn all about the secret watery world that covers most of our planet and the incredible creatures that live within it!

Packed with all the essential information from the previous edition Eyewitness Ocean is now more interactive and colourful than ever with new infographics, statistics, facts and timelines making the book more engaging and educational for your child.

Genres: Science, Animals, Nonfiction, Nature, Childrens, Geography, Environment

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Dorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Shainlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting things about cuttlefish (fascinating and fearsome little fish) and pearls, mother of pearl,
RTC tbc

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great visual learning book. Everyone old and young can enjoy and learn from these books. I love the pictures and layouts they use to explain the topic. This is just a fun and entertaining book to read and enjoy. My highest recommendation

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to love books like this & Watched the TV Series when I was younger & I have a feeling most children would as well. This could be used in a lesson on the ocean or animal species, or simply for students to select on their own. This is a nonfiction book that creates high interest because of the colourful pictures accompanied by both necessary and interesting facts.
(Thanks to Net Galley & DK Books for this fascinating Eyewitness Guide to the Oceans of the World).

[Gauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this children's book, because I figured I could still learn from it. And I did! Just a little bit. There are some very interesting facts about sea creatures living in several different zones in the ocean and the history of exploration and technology to observe it.
But, since it is a children's book, it isn't comprehensive at all, and is more just a book for a child to be amazed by the diversity of nature and the interconnections between organisms.
However, it did a poor job of explaining physical concepts or didn't explain them at all, such as how buoys function, how currents move, or what the Coriolis Effect is (they briefly mention the concept existing and move on -- not helpful to an elementary schooler).

[Who Watches · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nonfiction made for children is a woefully underappreciated form of media, for it contains succinct, straight-to-the-point information and is often presented with photographs that accurately capture the content being discussed. This creates a kind of pattern recognition that is valuable for learning when you’re young, yes, but is almost more valuable when you’re older. Why? Because none of it is bogged down in fluff or misdirection, it's all there as an adequate jumping-off point to pique your interest so you can go find the more complex stuff later. But not all children's nonfiction is made equally.

As for this book, though, it delivers! I read a lot of these Eyewitness books as a child, but this is the first time in my adult life I’ve sat down with one (a new edition, as it so happens) and read it cover to cover. The photographs of the ocean were well placed and well picked, displaying an artful combination of undersea shots and side profiles of fish, crabs, sharks, starfish, anemones, whales, submarines, and more. The make of the book is beautiful and the size makes it fun to flip through, with pictures and info just hopping off the page, waiting to be devoured. Information about the oceans is presented semi-chronologically (starting with how they formed) and then continues on by scale, moving from general info, to the various levels (like sunlight and twilight, etc), to how humanity interacts with it. Not a single bit of space is misused, and seeing the lovely blue of the sea ten ways to Sunday with each turn of the page was a REAL treat.

Listen, we all know that whale sharks are the world’s biggest fish, and that the water cycle of the planet is dependent on the ocean, and that it makes up 70% of the world’s surface, yada yada—that info is of course included (and important for the target audience), but part of the point of these books is to also learn something new. And boy howdy, learn I did. So here’s a not-so comprehensive list of things I learned from this book that I either never knew, or forgot soon after I was taught in school:

- The ocean surrounding Pangaea was called “Panthalassa”
- That an invention called “the Newt suit” allows divers to go deeper than usual and not suffer from the bends
- Tide mills; windmills on the water that make use of the changes in tides
- That telegraph cables were laid on the ocean floor in 1870?!
- What “bryozoans” are (aquatic invertebrates)
- That phytoplankton release as much oxygen as forests! Wow!
- Estuaries are milky areas at the mouth of rivers that feed into oceans where freshwater and saltwater mix, and mangroves are common environments relative to these conditions
- Many mollusks feed with a tongue-like appendage called a “radula”
- Groups of fish are called “shoals,” they’re only called “schools” when they start all swimming in the same direction (who knew? Not me, is the thing).

There’s so much more here, too, as I assume is the case with all of these books. Can’t wait to read more! Highly recommend.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book I don't disapprove of, but I have to admit to not finishing – it was far too busy. Box-outs, introductory paragraphs, multiple captions for the main image, factoids not isolated by anything except font size and not illustrated, addenda that were illustrated that made you mistakenly think they were connected to the factoids – and that is just the first few pages. And so it goes – meaning as much as I would like to love the breadth, the wonderful photographic support to those who learn visually, the scope and most of all the accuracy of all I read, I have to raise an eyebrow. I don't like wasted space on a page any more than the average browser, but this was too full-on, too haphazard and in a sense too loud for me to rate it too highly. If the junior me had had this in hand to help create something for a school project, the end result would have been far too scattershot and ill-focused. Too much hard work from the creators leaves too much hard work for the users, then.

[Dan Castrigano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like the wording in a few places about fossil fuels, like "Oil is needed for industry and motor vehicles" and "Valuable reservoirs of oil and gas lie hidden beneath the seabed." Also, there was nothing about the warming of the oceans or ocean acidification or the CO2 storage in the oceans. Stuff to remember: Different types of fins = dorsal fin, pectoral fin, anal fin, and caudal fin (tail); cartilaginous fish are sharks and rays - they are not bony fish - they must always keep swimming; phytoplankton = plants and zooplankton = animals; deadly animals - blue-ringed octopus, stonefish, box jellyfish

[Darci Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to love books like this when I was younger, and I have a feeling most children would as well. This could be used in a lesson on the ocean or animal species, or simply for students to select on their own. This is a nonfiction book that creates high interest because of the colorful pictures accompanied by both necessary and interesting facts.

[Annie MacPherson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reviewing the new edition (2021): Striking cover. Images populating each two-page spread appear to be based dominantly on color family, which gives a sophisticated look. Overall the graphics are less impactful than in previous editions, and less fun to look at. The text font style and sizing reads more like a high school textbook, than something a child would read for fun.

[PRASANNA · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice and good

[Krisz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Splendid book with lots of interesting facts and words, was not suitable for my 5-yr-old, I guess around 8 is the perfect age, so I'll borrow this again from the library in a few years!

[Pam]

Has especially good photos of coral

[Hailey S.]

2022 WG Library summer reading challenge

[Christel Van Gemeren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makkelijke taal, goede uitleg en mooie ilustratie

[Cade Salem · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was cool because of how short it was. I really enjoy short books. But also this book was interesting at the same time. It was a good educational book.

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is ocean your type of book? Then if it is go on an under sea journey with fish and all types of sea creatures and read this book. This book talks about all the amazing things you can find in the under sea water world. My favorite sea animal is the shark if you want to find out about your then read the book

[Karen Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

The children adored this stunningly illustrated book. It features many beautiful and creepy (strange sea creatures) pictures. The children poured over it almost all day and gave me a break (hurray !). I looked at the book after they had gone home and could fully understand why they found it so engaging. Educational too but I didn't tell them that.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers many details about the ocean which may take 20 other books to find (typical of the DK series). It was exciting to see what plankton actually looks like for our house of whale shark lovers!

[Caticorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beginners book for learning about the ocean so it didn't blow me away because I already knew some of the stuff that it said but it was still a good book. Of course it was for everyone. It was a good book for Learning about the ocean.

[Isaiahhenry]

The book the ocean is about the types of tropical seas in the world. In the tropical island there are a lot of seas with a beautiful site.In the water of the tropical ocean there is tropical fishes that make the ocean it self complete .The ocean would be a wonderful place to be in

[Haley Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book depicts a sea journey with fish and all types of sea creatures you can find in the under sea water world. I would recommend that children of in 3rd grade-5th grade read this book because of the enhanced vocabulary and more factual-based information.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good resource for children, lots of pictures and explainations about history, facts, and descriptions of the science of understanding earths oceans

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for kids and adults

[WSL Library]

x2

[Katelyn Fernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

It tells you all about the creatures, what happens in the sea, and shells, + more!
Its a very good book all about research on seas

[Kim Cackowski]

Lots of pictures, high quality resolution. The pictures have quick facts, easily connected to the picture. This book is full of information and great to pick up and browse. Great book for display to draw readers in.