Caramel has reviewed several Magic Tree House books already: Night of the Ninjas (Magic Tree House #5), Afternoon on the Amazon (Magic Tree House #6), Knights and Castles (Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #2), Sunset of the Sabertooth (Magic Tree House #7), Midnight on the Moon (Magic Tree House #8), and Dolphins at Daybreak (Magic Tree House #9). This week he wanted to talk about another fact tracker book: Sea Monsters. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, you found another book about real things, I see.
Caramel: Yes. This is a book about ocean “monsters”.
S: So who are these monsters? Can you tell me a few of them?
C: There is the angler fish, the giant squid, the goblin shark, the cookie cutter shark, the hairy angler fish, the vampire squid, the dragon fish, oar fish, …
S: Okay, I get the point.
C: … giant tube worms. There is also this dunkleosteus–
S: Hmm, I have never heard of most of these. But this last one does not sound familiar at all. What is a dunkleosteus?
C: It is a giant armored fish, I think it is about forty feet long. Its teeth are actually bone.
S: And it is extinct, right?
C: Yes. And there are other extinct species too. There is the liopleurodon, and the megalodon–
S: So I understand. The book talks about large sea creatures, then. Right?
C: Yes. And my favorite is the liopleurodon.
S: Why?
C: Because it is not armored but it has a giant head. I think it looks really interesting!
S: I’m not sure I’d like to face one under water any time soon!
C: You don’t have to worry about that. They are already extinct!
S: That’s good.
C: Not for them.
S: That is right Caramel. This does seem like an interesting book, with many different types of facts in it. So tell me how it is organized.
C: Chapter titles! Here you go: The first chapter is called Sea Monsters. Then the second is Exploring the Oceans. The third is Squids, Octopuses and Other Creatures. Then there is a chapter called Creatures of the Deep.
S: That’s where we learn about the angler fish!
C: Yes. then there is Prehistoric Seas. And there we learn about the liopleurodon, the megalodon and similar creatures. And then the last chapter is called Sea Monster Tales.
S: Which chapter was most interesting for you?
C: I think I liked the Prehistoric Seas chapter most.
S: I know you like prehistoric animals. You have reviewed a Magic Tree House book about the saber tooth before. And another book on dinosaurs. No wonder you chose the liopleurodon as your favorite sea monster.
S: So what else do you want to tell us about this book?
C: It has a lot of pictures and tons of facts! Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House books tell us all sorts of things. There is also some facts about Steve Irwin and about Jacques Cousteau.
S: We watched a lot of episodes of Steve Irwin’s show together, right? It is sad he died of a sting ray sting. And Cousteau was a famous explorer who was one of the first to go deep into the oceans and to explore. That is great that you read a bit about both. So tell me the most interesting fact you learned from this book.
C: It’s about the largest jellyfish. So let me find it… Okay, here I will read it to you: “The longest animal in the world is not a whale. It is a special jellyfish called a siphonophore. Its tentacles can reach 131 feet long!”
S: Wow, that is long! Wikipedia tells us that “a siphonophore may appear to be an individual organism, each specimen is in fact a colonial organism composed of medusoid and polypoid zooids that are morphologically and functionally specialized.” That is really interesting! I had never heard of them before.
C: Me neither!
S: Okay Caramel, it is probably a good time to wrap up this review. Would you like to tell our readers your three words on this book?
C: Factful, curious because these are really curious animals, and black-and-white because all the illustrations are black and white.
S: Maybe instead of factful we can say “informative”?
C: Yes, that works too!
S: Great! I think then it is finally time for you to say your closing words!
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
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