HOW THE SEA CAME TO BE

Geology, oceanography, biology, and 4.5 billion years of evolution—in quatrains.

Riveting illustrations and text depict the shaping of Earth’s surface, the formation of seas, and the emergence of life and complex biodiversity. In four-line “ballad” stanzas (four-beat, mostly iambic, alternating with three-beat, mostly anapestic, lines) that will make for a rollicking read-aloud, Berne traces the surprising steps from molten lava to teeming organisms. It might seem unlikely that verse could convey eons of dramatic development with scientific accuracy, but that happens here—with very few slips of rhyme or meter. And as impressive as Berne’s achievement is, it is gloriously overshadowed by Hall’s luminous art, rendered in watercolor, gouache, pencil crayon, pastel, and digital materials. Microscopic, tiny, merely big, or gigantic, the life forms Hall painstakingly depicts are neon, candy-colored, or pale; smooth, ribbed, or spiky, but always stunning. Capricious as fantasy but true to nature’s incredible reality, they are imaginatively displayed and vividly or subtly tinted. The sea creatures are not labeled, but by looking closely readers can find all that are mentioned—and there are extensive resources for further exploration.

An ode to undersea life with visuals that beg to be animated, just as the text begs to be sung.