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Life in a Coral Reef (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)

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The puffy clouds sit in a clear blue sky above the ocean waters. Beneath the surface of the ocean a beautiful coral reef "built of limestone from tiny sea animals" is teeming with life and awash with vibrant colors. Fish can be seen swimming among the reef, but there is more to it than meets the eye in the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. This coral reef, the largest in the world, weaves its way along the eastern coast of Australia for "more than 1,200 miles." Amazingly the coral reefs of the world are made up by coral polyps, small sea animals, that are about the "size of a grain of rice."

The polyps attach themselves to already existing coral and their layers form the reefs. Other creatures of the sea contribute to the coral reefs as well. For example, the sea cucumber will "spit out the sand" it cannot eat, thereby keeping the reef structurally sound when this sand "fills the cracks and crevices in the reef." In this book you will learn about hard coral polyps, soft coral polyps, and other creatures that populate the reefs. Those creatures include the goby, the spotted eel, the colorful clown fish, the ruffle-headed scorpion, the puffer fish, the crab, the four-eye butterfly fish, and several other fascinating denizens of the deep. Did you know that the parrot fish covers its body in a substance like "plastic wrap" so its predators can't smell it?

The combination of the informative text and Steve Jenkin's delightful collage make this particular book on the coral reef a real gem. The light and airy style of writing made this informative description of the text easy for the younger reader to understand. The full color pages with the vibrant sea creatures meshed very well with this charming undersea trip along the coral reef. For the younger reader this type of introduction to the world of nonfiction makes it fun, easy and enjoyable. In the back of the book there are some "Fun Facts" about coral reefs, a brief note about the disappearing reefs, and a list of the famous reefs from Florida to Australia.