It lives in the deep

Every year at the New York Public Library a list of the Best Books for Kids is crafted. I had a peek at this year's list and grabbed a few to read and review for the blog. The next couple of posts are going to be covering those. :-)

Giant Squid written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann is a nonfiction book about (no surprise here) giant squid. This is categorized as a children's picture book but after reading it myself I would say that this would be more appropriate as a middle grade (or advance reader) picture book. It might be good for those curious children in your life who you read aloud to but I don't recommend reading this before bedtime. Note: If you have a phobia of the ocean or deep waters then this will only serve to scare you further. (I'm putting all of these warnings upfront because I went into this one completely blind.) The only thing I knew going into this book was that the artwork on the cover looked intriguing and it looked to be an interesting read. It turns out that pretty much everyone is ignorant about giant squid because they're so elusive. The book is packed with the facts that scientists do know as well as eerily beautiful illustrations of different aspects of squid anatomy. At the back of the book is a detailed drawing of the squid with the different parts labeled as well as additional notes and suggested reading. As I said, this would be really great for children (or adults) who are interested in marine life and want to learn more about a fascinating and mysterious creature. Personally, I think it was written a tad too dramatically which made the imagery and the facts scarier than they would ordinarily seem. If I judged this based on educational merit and artwork alone I'd give it a 10/10 but all combined it's a 7/10 for me.

A few examples of the artwork as well as the text:

Source: theclassroombookshelf.com

Source: kidlitfrenzy.com

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **