THE OCEAN CALLS: A Picture Book Review and Giveaway

Tina Cho's book, THE OCEAN CALLS, (Penguin Random House, 2020) about the Korean Haenyeo scuba divers is informative, beautiful, and engaging. The illustrations by Jess X. Snow carry readers through this story of a young girl learning to face her fears and dive into a new adventure. As Tina explains in the back matter, the story was inspired when she watched the haenyeo tradition in South Korea.

REVIEW

This day-in-the-life story begins with Dayeon and her grandmother stretching and preparing for the day. Dayeon tells her, "I want to be a haenyeo like you...You're like a treasure-hunting mermaid."

But Dayeon remembers how frightened she was the previous summer when she jumped off a big rock. The sharks and other sea creatures that lurk in the ocean frightened her. With her grandmother's reassurance that she will teach her everything she needs to know, the two prepare for their dive. 

They each carry the tools they'll need: Grandma has what she needs to pluck treasures from the sea and Dayeon brings tools to bring treasures from the shore.

I love how the illustrator created mermaids out of their shadows!

Grandma brings up the treasures she finds--sea urchins and other sea life which she will sell or cook--and Dayeon watches. She slips into the ocean and brings pretty shells back to her grandmother who invites her to dive with her.

"What if I can't breathe? What if a shark comes? What if I can't escape?" Dayeon replies. 

The two walk into the water. When Dayeon can no longer feel the bottom, she locked hands with Grandma. "Take a deep breath, calm your mind, and then we'll dive."

Down, Down, Dayeon and Grandma dove, but...Dayeon swam right back up.

The two dive down again and Dayeon holds her breath longer, goes deeper, and sees more sparkling treasures. When dolphin arrive--a sure sign that hungry sharks will follow--they resurface and are rescued by a boat full of haenyeos. 

In the satisfying ending, Dayeon realizes that she feels at home in the sea--just like her grandmother, and the Korean "mermaids" who have gone before her. 

CURRICULUM RESOURCE

THE OCEAN CALLS  is a great book for K-third graders. It will be a good addition to oceanography studies as well as conversations about Korea, grandparents as role models, and women's roles. Tina has a complete discussion guide here.

Here is a youtube video about Haenyeo women:

And a video of Tina reading her book:

GIVEAWAY

Please leave a comment with your email address if you are new to my blog. U.S. addresses only. If you decide to subscribe to my blog or are an educator, I will enter your name twice. Just let me know what you do in the comments. Giveaway ends August 26.  

JELLYFISH WISHES AND POEMS ABOUT FISHES: A Picture Book Review and Autographed Giveaway

 It's always a pleasure to introduce friends' books. Janine Yordy and I met years ago when the SCBWI Charlotte group met at Morrison library in South Park. 

The inspiration for this book came from Janine spending summers at the beach with her boys as well as the beauty she found in nature. As a biologist she picked and researched animals she loved.

It's now my delight to share her second picture book with you, JELLYFISH WISHES AND POEMS ABOUT FISHES with illustrations by Ellen Injerd (Paraklesis Press, 2021)

REVIEW

The book begins with children running down to the sea; here is the first poem:

        BEACH DAY

Sun pops up, and out we run.

Shovels, buckets surfboards, FUN!

And all around us life is brimming--

flying, crawling, floating, swimming.

Sticky sand beneath our feet.

Wonder who we're gonna meet.

The reader is then introduced to  CRABBY:

The poems are full of figurative language and different rhyming techniques which will make the sea creatures memorable. Readers will discover shells with "someone smelly still inside" (alliteration); a lovely osprey who "wishes for a mate to date" (internal rhyme); a heron who goes "SWISH for a fish, and SSLLURP." (internal rhyme and onomatopoeia); and a pelican whose "beaking is super for sneaking and high-dive techniquing" (unique internal rhyme scheme). 

Here's a fun limerick:

Dolphins dance and glide (vivid verbs) and gulls "scuffled over pickled leeks, with yapping, snapping, beachy beaks." (internal rhyme)

Have you ever thought about a stingray flying? Janine did!

Silly poems include a jellyfish waiting to meet her Peanut Butter, an eel that "slithers, swimming with a swish. He's a special, snake-ish fish." (alliteration, fun made-up word). 

A hammerhead shark complains, "No nails, no wood, no way I should be mending someone's fence. My snoot is cute, so I dispute: my name does not make sense."

Here is one of my favorites,

The book ends with the children who are seen through out the book, saying goodnight to the beach under a  darkening sky, and a lovely spread about sea turtles. 

 

Don't you love the "moon-made map"? I do!

GIVEAWAY

Enter to win an autographed copy by leaving a comment by December 19 at 9 AM.  PLEASE LEAVE YOUR NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS IF YOU ARE NEW TO MY BLOG. U.S. Postal addresses only. 

Congratulations to Susan Rice who won DINO PAJAMA PARTY.