Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water [Hardcover]

Kurt Cyrus (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

Take a plunge into the strange, surprising depths of this world inside the sea. In twenty-one wet and witty poems, Kurt Cyrus follows a lone sardine in search of its lost school within the dark halls of a great coral reef.

From a devious stonefish and a slippery sea snake to a blowfish with attitude and a line of goose-stepping lobsters, here is a realm awash with the weird and the wondrous, the comical and the spooky. No matter how long your stay, this is one hotel you won't want to leave!

Includes a visual "key" that leads readers to specific fish within the illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5–Untitled verses describe a colorful array of ocean creatures, both benign and dangerous, observed by a lone sardine searching for the swirling band of companions that he lost when the school spun out of the range of an invading marlin. "Where did everyone go?/One sardine. Apart. Alone./Welcome to the Mystery Zone." The handsome, busy views convey mystery with clever placement of creatures–some unnamed, some partially hidden, some more realistic than others. Though the sardine is mostly a passing observer, his continuing presence lends a bit of story line to the energetic scenes of underwater life. Moments of fear and danger thread throughout. "Life in the sea offers little that's free;/There's always a devil to pay." There's plenty to see and ponder though some oblique references and the sometimes mocking tone will elude many children. A thumbnail picture-glossary names some 28 species of marine life but provides no explanations or added information. Overall, this is a cheerful tour for browsers that also offers possibilities for shared reading.–Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. Deep in the ocean a tiny sardine is lost in a great coral reef. Cyrus' lavishly colored, detailed paintings show the creatures that lurk in the gorgeous underworld, and in some of his accompanying poems, the language flows like the action it describes. It darts, swerves, and swivels on the page like the sardine; swoops, then loops like a calico scallop; swells into a prickly sack like a porcupine fish; and swirls like a crayfish through a seaweed curtain. The vibrant visuals grab all the attention; there's no space to imagine other images to match Cyrus' words. But the sounds of the poetry are as much fun as the exciting action in the wild setting, making this a great read-aloud for sharing--even with younger grade-schoolers. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152167714
• ISBN-13: 978-0152167714
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,145,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kurt Cyrus just gets better, June 19, 2006

By 

Kit Trzebunia (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water (Hardcover)

I fell in love with Oddhopper Opera and bought it before my son was even conceived. I recently discovered Hotel Deep and ordered it sight-unseen. It is yet further proof that Kurt Cyrus is a fabulous artist and a brilliant poet. This is now my 2.5-yr-old's favorite book. He asks for it by name ("Read Toe Deep?"), and goes around quoting it. His favorite page is where the lone sardine finally reunites with his school ("Sardines! Sardinessardinessardinessardines...!") But his favorite poem is the one about the stonefish. Apparently he is able to pick up on the idea of the fish pretending to be what it isn't, and he walks around saying, "Not a stonefish, no indeed!"

A young child needs to have his hand held and be shown how to appreciate these Kurt Cyrus books, but there is so much there for both him and us to enjoy. My husband and I don't get tired of reading this one!

Okay, I have to amend this review to say that my son (still 2.5) knows the ENTIRE book by heart. He can recite the whole thing one line ahead of us. He loves to point to the sardine on every page (except the deep-sea page, where he says, "Don't see sardine!" every time), and he can find and identify each of the 28 fish named and pictured on the back page of the book. Parental bragging aside, I consider this a tribute to the book's brilliance. A 2-yr-old can enter into it wholeheartedly, but as an adult I can tell you that there are fresh details that emerge every time through. My children won't outgrow this one.

Oddhopper Opera is a fun romp, but Hotel Deep is just pure art.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hotel Deep, April 9, 2006

By 

John Lindberg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water (Hardcover)

Does anyone know how I can contact the author about buying the artwork for this book? Kurt Cyrus is an outstanding artist and not a bad poet either. Hopefully he will grace us with a full length book at some point. My son and daughter both love his books and often look through them just for the pictures themselves and my son, who is just beginning to read, is able to follow the text. Another excellent book by the author

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of my favorites, December 3, 2005

By 

sam "sam" (half moon bay) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water (Hardcover)

Hotel Deep is an amazing and beautifully illustrated book. It fun to read and each poem is about the curious deep ocean and the creatures that live in it. My 4 year old loved his other book "odhopper opera" so when I saw this, i bought it. Its style is very similiar to "opera" (which is about a garden and the bugs & creatures in it) I love both books and would give them to every child I know.
sam