Nonfiction Monday: Ocean Animals: Who's Who in the Deep Blue by Johnna Rizzo

When I was weeding the 500s this year and needed to update the animal books, I went to my go-to publishers which, of course, included National Geographic.

Finding Nemo and Finding Dory have made underwater creatures even more popular than they have been in the past, and the publisher capitalizes on that by placing reef-dwellers front and center. The book introduces readers to the major oceans and their general layout and then jumps right into the creatures that dwell there. They are separated into coral reefs, sharks, marine mammals, whales, marine reptiles and birds. The book ends with ocean habitats like the Galapagos and mangroves and then lists ways readers can be involved in conserving and improving ocean habitats. There are several additional sections not listed in the table of contents; weird ocean animals, extreme ocean environments, and other facts.

There are also credits, acknowledgements, an index, and glossary. The gorgeous photography of National Geographic's titles is expanded in this oversized volume, showing a little of the scope of the huge underwater world the creatures live in.

Verdict: Whether or not you are looking to update your ocean animals sections, this is a strong addition to any library. It will catch the interest of a wide variety of ages and Rizzo's accessible and knowledgeable text is a great introduction to the underwater world. I was happy to expend a little extra money on a library-bound copy, but it's also available in paperback.


ISBN: 9781426325069; Published May 2016; Review copy provided by publishers; Purchased for the library