Customer Reviews

Secret Oceans, The

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The mysteries of the deep have fascinated landlubbers and oceanographers for ages. Now, Betty Ballantine has blended fantasy and solid scientific principles to create a stunner of a book.

Taken in tow by an intelligent deep sea species of talking dolphins, the "cetasapiens," six ship's crew members embark on an unparalleled voyage through the world's oceans. Exploration begins in the South Pacific. Then, guided by their friendly denizens of the deep, they veer towards the Arctic, and eventually investigate the Amazon Delta, which is flooded six months of every year and holds a startling array of wildlife.

Their journeys are illustrated by brilliant full-page full-color paintings by 12 different artists. Additional visuals are wonderful paintings of sea creatures.

The excitement of the story is not at all diminished but enhanced by the author's themes of environmentalism, mutual dependency and multi-culturalism. The Secret Oceans is an imaginative adventure for all. Those interested in our physical world will be especially enthralled by this unique celebration of life.

- Gail Cooke

well done and written by a legend of the publishing worl

I loved this book! The C.T.'s (dolphins with three fingered fins and a crest on their heads) are really cool with communicating with the humans. The book is very interesting and it tells about a lot of different places in the ocean and parts that are dangerous and parts that are not dangerous. Also, it tells about a lot of animals in the ocean. When Betty Balentine talks about the ocean, she makes it sound like it's a magical world. Also, she makes it sound like you're ging into outer space! On a scale of 1-10, this book is an eleven!!!

The audio version of this book is a good adventure, admittedly, but the original book is a wonderful picture book. It took 39 artists (IIRC) to make all the art in the book, and by consigning it to cassette tape it just loses half the point. While I would still recommend it based on plot, I was disappointed by it.

I've read a lot of children's books lately, and this is one of the worst. My 6 year old and I were excited to read this book after reading _Dinotopia_. The same production team apparently helped on this book, and the book is clearly patterned on that bestseller. Sadly, this book in no way approaches the quality of Dinotopia. The vocabulary is at the college level, the story is awkward and forced, the dialogue is wholly unnatural, and most of the art is amateurish. I applaud the book's theme of conservation, and its respect for non-human life and intelligence. But beyond that, this book has very little to offer.