Coral Reef

One Small Square

by Donald M. Silver, Patricia Wynne

Hardy adventurers ages 6 - 9 dive into a silent watery world where tiny coral animals grow together to form rock gardens of white, pink, and red-orange. In this action-packed undersea circus, jaws snap, tentacles sting, ink gets squirted, and fish suddenly glow while animals that look like plants sway gently and bashful clams hide the lively secrets inside their shells. Surprisingly dry and armed with a few pieces of equipment and their boundless imaginations, children explore this magical realm one small square at a time. "Science education at its best." ― Science Books and Films

Genres: Picture Books, Science, Nature, Nonfiction

48 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1997

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

We read this as part of our study of coral reefs. How appropriate! We also read Colorful, Captivating Coral Reefs and 24 Hours in a Coral Reef. They all contained similar information and I kept going back and forth trying to decide which one I liked best and would use the next time through. (You can read my reviews for the other books to learn more about them.)

This book was set up with a sort of circus theme. We learned about coral, fish, caves, sponges, and many more. While it wasn't terribly detailed, it provided a lot of information and I didn't feel like I needed to search out other books to 'fill in the gaps'. The illustrations were nice and soft and lovely, but I think you need photos for things under the ocean. And some things weren't labeled. I hate that.

The activities in this book aren't as 'hands on' as the others in the series since you can't really go down into a coral reef and explore. Unless you're a certified scuba diver and I'm not. Neither are my kids.

Overall it was a solid choice and covered coral reefs well. I will use it again as the spine and will probably add the 24 Hours book in for the photos. We're really, really liking the One Small Square books and I buy them whenever I find them.

[Ckorbakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot of good information and is organized with new topics every 2 pages. The information is of high interest and the pictures go along with the text. There are a few activities in the back as well as a list with drawings of different plant and animal ocean life. I copied different parts for my reading groups. Every group got 2 pages. The book is at a higher reading level than my of my students can handle independently but we worked through it together in reading groups. There are some shorter and easier pages for the lower readers. This was a great resource for our Water Unit in Science.