Water Is . . .

The wind has been gusting between twenty and thirty miles per hour for more than twenty-four hours.  People in our area have been warned to stay out of the water due to high waves and strong currents.  Despite the wind chill currently at below fifty degrees, surf boards can be seen in vehicles at the park along Michigan Beach.  Lake Michigan, at the tip of the Mitt, has been wild and beautiful today. (September 22, 2022)

There is something soothing about the proximity of a large body of water, calm or wild.  It is essential to life on our planet, especially to those creatures living within or around that large body of water.  In their sixth book, author Kate Messner and artist Christopher Silas Neal give us the lovely Over and Under the Waves (Chronicle Books, September 13, 2022).  For those who have rarely traversed or never been in water larger than one of the Great Lakes or inland lakes in the United States, this book takes us on a memorable exploration.

Over the waves we paddle, away from

the beach to the water's deep blue.

Two red kayaks glide. In one is a mother and child.  In the other is the father.  They first encounter a group of sea lions basking on a cluster of rocks.  One leaves and dives into the water.

When the child questions where the sea lion goes, their mother speaks of the world beneath their kayaks and the plants and animals living there.  As they continue to paddle, under them different fish of different sizes and colors swim.  In the sky, pelicans search over the kayaks.  

As their kayaks slide into a

forest of kelp

the child holds tight to some to stay in place.  Their mother notes sea otters do the same thing.  A female otter floats, with her child, on top of the water and another swims through the kelp in search of food.

Slicing through the water, the family notices sea birds above them looking for their next meal as a leopard shark does the same below them.  In the distance, whales have surfaced.  Can they move closer to the whales?  Will they surface again?

Homeward bound the kayaks move.  They cannot see the giant octopus under them, but they do see the abundant life in the small tide pools and along the sand. Now home and near sleep, the child can still hear the sea.  It moves and lulls life under the waves in a timeless melody.

Author Kate Messner has the adept ability to bring the magic she encounters in her adventures to the printed page for us.  Her word choices are highly descriptive, fashioning a portrait of the place.  She includes a bit of dialogue and sound effects to heighten our participation.  Throughout the book, she names specific plant and animal life and their habits. Here is a passage.

The bay has gone quiet.  We wait,

rising and falling on the swells.

     Under the waves, pale moon jellies

     float and sea nettles drift, swinging

     with the slow current.

"We should head back," Mom says, but then . . .

As you look at the stunning image spanning left to right, back to front, on the matching and open dust jacket and book case, you are truly over and under the waves.  The illustration crosses the spine flawlessly.  To the left of the spine and above the kelp forest, a school of tiny fish moves from the left edge to the spine.  The bay water rises to nearly the top of the left side.  On the front, the position of the pelican and other shore birds is impeccable. Look at the comparison of the kayaks with the whale!  Wow!

The opening and closing endpapers are a brilliant blue.  It is the kind of blue when the sky is crystal clear and reflected in the water.  There is a pattern of starfish, scallop shells, and fish with air bubbles in white on that blue canvas.   

Artist Christopher Silas Neal begins his pictorial interpretation on the verso and title pages.  Here we see a panoramic view of the cottage where the family is staying.  It is at the top of a grassy hill with a triple staircase leading down to the beach and the red kayaks.  In front of this is the bay and along the bottom of the pages, we see beneath the water.

Each of the double-page pictures and single-page pictures

rendered in mixed media

involve us deeply in the family's excursion.  We are treated to breathtaking seascape views.  Sometimes we are close to the family as they are noticing the world around them.  We see vast scenes under the water and sometimes we move close to the residents there.  At times we are looking down on the kayakers as if we are one of the sea birds.  Often we are able to see over and under the waves at the same time.  Careful readers will notice the sky changing as the day comes to a close and dusk descends.

One of my many favorite images is a single-page picture.  We are looking down on a pelican in flight that fills a large portion of the page.  Beneath the bird are two other pelicans, much smaller and much lower to the water.  On the water are the two red kayaks; the family holding their paddles at rest.  Pelicans in flight invite our attention; silent sentinels that they are.

For those who have never visited the sea or an ocean or who have and wish they could be there again, this book, Over and Under the Waves written by Kate Messner with art by Christopher Silas Neal, is the ideal title.  At the close of the book is an Author's Note.  This is followed by several pages of information about the individual twenty-two flora and fauna mentioned in the text.  There is also a page dedicated to a list of books and websites for further information about Monterey Bay and what you might find over and under the waves.  This book is a stellar addition to a fabulous series.  You will want a copy in both your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Kate Messner and Christopher Silas Neal and their other work, please visit their websites by following the link attached to their names.  There are interior images from this book at Christopher Silas Neal's website.  Kate Messner has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Christopher Silas Neal has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Covered With Life

When you stand on the shore of a large body of water, gazing across its expanse, something happens deep inside you.  Being in the presence of this greatness is humbling but soothing.  It helps you to realize as small as you may be, you are a part of something greater than your eyes can see.  This water spread before you is alive.  It sustains life on our planet.

We wade and swim in it.  We walk along its sandy or stony beaches looking for treasure.  If we are fortunate one of the creatures living in this water will reveal itself to us.  That's a memory to cherish.  Ocean! Waves For All (Henry Holt and Company, May 5, 2020) written by Stacy McAnulty with illustrations by David Litchfield is the latest entry in the Our Universe series.  Ocean has a lot to tell us, so let's listen and learn.

Dude, I am OCEAN.

You know my many names:
Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic,
Indian, Southern.
It's all excellent me.

Even though we've given Ocean many names, it is one large body of saltwater covering our entire planet.  Seventy-one percent of Earth is covered by Ocean.  Ocean represents no country but welcomes everyone.  Did you know Ocean is older than the air we breathe?  Ocean was here before any land masses.

First life, so tiny a human eye cannot see it, began in Ocean.  Today the largest animal on the planet lives in Ocean.  Do you know what it is?  Ocean is home to the largest landform found anywhere in the world.   Ocean is a super liquid highway, boasting ships numbering in the tens of thousands using it every day.

Like our atmosphere has layers, so does Ocean.  There's one named the Twilight Zone.  It is 656 to 3,281 feet deep.  The pull of the moon creates tides, high and low, on Ocean.

Ocean has several messages for us.  We need to get serious about exploring all Ocean has to offer.  Comparisons are made between how we've made more discoveries about Mars than we have about Ocean.  Ocean is disturbed about all the plastic pollution and the melting of glaciers.  Ocean's closing words are a hopeful request, and a reminder.


Readers will find themselves smiling at the first word, Dude.  Throughout the narrative, author Stacy McAnulty uses words from the 1980s heightening the entertaining delivery of the information Ocean tells us.  Each placement of these words is as natural as the voice using them.  The facts shared by Ocean (Stacy McAnulty) are exactly what we need to know, but they also invite us to further educate ourselves.  We learn history, world records, basic facts, the role of the ocean in our lives, the wonders to be found and a plea for protection.  This is all done in a highly engaging conversational style.  Here is a passage.

And more humans have visited
outer space than my deepest spots.
Awesome for outer space. Bummer for me.
Ninety percent of my waters are
completely dark, cold, and yet totally rad.

Come explore my secrets.


The beautiful underwater world seen on the front of the dust jacket continues on the other side of the spine when it is opened.  There the fish, and plants are darker and more pronounced than on the front.  On the back on the surface of the ocean, a cargo ship heads toward the left edge.  When we met Ocean on the front, he seems eager to see us.  His eyes and mouth indicate he can hardly wait to speak.  His hands beckon to us.

The image on the book case is a reverse of the introductory image when the narrative begins.  It's done in hues of blue, pink, and purple.  Ocean is waving to us with one hand and pointing to himself with the other hand.  Among the ocean plants is a turtle, a shark, several jellyfish, and schools of smaller fish.  Around Ocean's face the colors are lighter, but on the edges, they are darker, richer.

On the opening and closing endpapers we are treated to two different dazzling displays of the multitude of life to be found in the ocean.  On the closing endpapers we are much deeper in the ocean.  Divers are exploring the depths and the unusual creatures.

Artist, David Litchfield,

created with pencils, ink, watercolor paints, and digital art tools

the illustrations for this book.  They are a stunning array of double-page pictures, vertical panels, a book super-imposed on Ocean, and single-page images framed in white.  In all of them we see Ocean's eyes and mouth and usually his hands.  One time he is holding a magnifying glass.  The size of his face varies according to the illustrative interpretation of the text.  Readers will find themselves pausing at every page to savor the included details. It's fun to see which residents can be identified.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations is when Ocean is reminding us of his importance.  He mentions his role in climate and his vital importance to all life.  In this double-page picture Ocean is spread across most of the two pages.  His face is on the left along with one of his hands.  Here icebergs are featured along the top with two whales.  On the bottom is a sandy beach with people enjoying the water.  As our eyes cross the gutter a thunderstorm rages on a portion of the top and a moon rises among stars on the far right.  Ocean's second hand seems to be holding up the thunder clouds with lightning zigzagging down and rain falling.  Along the shore here is a woodland scene with a male and female deer standing on the water's edge.


This book, Ocean! Waves For All written by Stacy McAnulty with illustrations by David Litchfield, is wonderful for the facts, the words used to inform readers and the images.  This book, like Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years, Sun! One In A Billion and Moon! Earth's Best Friend, is upbeat, captivating, and inspiring.  At the close of the book Stacy McAnulty chats with readers, offers more items of information, challenges us, and provides sources.  You will want to add this title to your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about Stacy McAnulty and David Litchfield and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites. David has interior images on his website.  Stacy McAnulty has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. David Litchfield has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter.  This series has its own website.  Here is a link to activity kits from the publisher.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  You will really enjoy this conversation between the two creators.



Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the other titles selected this week for the 2020 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.