This book was constructed very nicely, the author included a lot of information about life on a coral reef. On each page there was a new fact to be discovered. As I read each new fact, it still felt as if I were reading a story. The writing was very organized, with the information being presented at a nice flow. "A clown fish huddles in the..poisonous..anemone. Because the clownfish is immune to the poison, it has a safe place to stay." This interesting fact was presented in a story book way. The illustrations in this book are very simple and outline exactly what the author is writing about on the specific page. I think the simple illustrations allows the reader to absorb the information with each page. As the main idea is to inform readers about life on a coral reef, I thought it was great that the author included fun facts and information about coral reefs that are in trouble on the last page. ( )

Part of the second stage of the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series, intended to familiarize primary-school students with basic scientific concepts, Life In a Coral Reef provides a brief picture-book introduction to these important underwater ecosystems. From their formation from coral polyps, to the wealth of species that live in or near them, the simple text covers a lot of ground, while the informative afterword includes further details.

I don't know, in all honesty, that I would have picked this one up, had I not seen it mentioned in an article on successful science books for younger children that appeared in The Horn Book magazine last year. I can see why it has received praise, as the text is informative without being overwhelming, and the accompanying cut-paper illustrations by Steve Jenkins are colorful and appealing. All in all, an engaging science picture-book for the younger set! ( )

Coral is used for many different things and in this book it describes a corals life and it's "kingdom." A great book to read to a third grade science class when talking about the oceans coral. You could use many words in this book for their week vocabulary. Also, to give them visual aides, you could bring in a grain of rice so the students could see just how small a coral polyp is. Also, different kinds of maps in Australia, US, and Asia. ( )

This book tells you about how a coral reef is formed and about all of the creatures that live in it. It also tells/shows how they camouflage themselves for survival.I think that this is a good book for all of the lower elementary grades. I think it would be fun to let the kids guess where the various creatures hide to blend in. ( )