CREATURES OF THE CORAL REEF

Jenkins invites readers to pretend to be butterflyfish, flitting through a coral reef and marveling at some of its colorful denizens.

“You’re in a coral reef,” he burbles. “Lucky you!” Spiky mounds of coral and crowds of brightly patterned tropical fish swimming through them glow vibrantly in Cockcroft’s serene, sunlit marine scenes as the author offers a quick tally of wild residents and explains how “tiny organisms” (actually, zooxanthellae, a term introduced in the afterword) help coral polyps build reefs over thousands of years. Neither the polyps nor their symbiotic companions are actually depicted in close-ups, though, so they and the process of reef building remain abstract. Still, even younger audiences will be affected when the pictures’ intense colors fade to ashy hues while the author discusses how pollution and climate change cause coral bleaching—and then burst back to full glory in later views as the reef rebounds and Jenkins closes with references to researchers who are finding types of corals that can survive in the warmer waters. The afterword expands on the topic of climate change and discusses what children can do to express their concerns about it; Jenkins concludes with a reassuring message that though the threat is real, so far at least bleached-out reefs have “usually recovered quite well.”

An insightful call to action, loaded with visual appeal.