Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea

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Synopsis

Deep down in the ocean amongst the coral hides one of the smallest sea creatures, the shy little sea horse. With "a head like a horse, a tail like a monkey, and a pouch like a kangaroo," it's one of the most fascinating creatures in the ocean. Come along for a adventure to learn all about a day in the life of a sea horse, as well as how they mate for life and perform their adorable courtship dance.

Review

Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea is a children's, non-fiction, picture book that teaches kids all about sea horses. They'll learn things like where sea horses live and how they can hide in the coral by camouflaging themselves to their surroundings, what they eat, who their predators are, and how they swim. It also discusses how these tiny sea creatures mate for life and how they reproduce.

This book came to my attention because I'd seen it pop up a number of times on recent lists of books being banned in schools and libraries, so I just had to find out what all the fuss was for myself. After reading it, quite frankly, I found that it's nothing but that: just a manufactured fuss over nothing. Sure the book talks about how sea horses mate and reproduce, but it's done so in a gentle, completely age-appropriate and non-offensive way. There's nothing explicit about it at all, instead just relating factual information about these wondrous creatures. In fact, I found this book to be adorable and the gently flowing narrative soothing. I think it's cute (and kind of romantic) that sea horses mate for life and I thought the way they twine their tails together during their courtship dance was akin to humans holding hands. It even educated me as an adult. I had no idea that it's the males who gestate and give birth to their young. Who knew?! The illustrations are a lovely compliment to the text. They're mostly done in shades of bluish-green, which I'm sure is meant to mimic the ocean, with splashes of browns and reds to give it some color. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this sweet book that definitely doesn't deserve the bad rap that some people are trying to give it. I highly recommend it for early elementary age kids who are interested in animals or sea life.

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