Sea Monsters wows children with its real-like pictures of prehistoric sea monsters.
National Geographic Kids has once again brought together fun and learning in Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure by Marfe Ferguson Delano (National Geographic, ISBN 978-1-4263-0162-9). Based on the screen film by the same title, the book, Sea Monsters, acts as a companion to the film by reliving the story line of prehistoric survival.
The Story
The story begins with a Dolichorynchops osborni (called dolly) female who travels to the safe shallow waters to give birth to two young dollies. The two young dollies grow up in the shallow waters and learn vital survival skills, such as catching their own food.
Soon it is time for the mother and her two offspring to travel out of the safe shallow waters and into the deeper waters. Here the mother dolly meets a tragic end at the jaws of a prehistoric shark, Cretoxyrhina. The two young dollies escape the attack and soon join up with a group of dollies.
As the dollies migrate in their group, another predator comes at them, a Tylosaurus. This time it is the boy dolly that is swallowed whole. The sister survives this second attack.
The migration continues and several seasons later, the sister dolly makes the journey back to the shallow waters to give birth to her own young, and the cycle continues.
The Learning
Sea Monsters is packed with interesting facts about the sea monsters that lived in the Mesozoic era, 82 million years ago. The story takes place in an ancient sea that used to take up the center of North America. Many creatures that lived in this sea are introduced into the story, such as the giant turtles named Protostega and the creep looking fish called Enchodus that swam in schools.
Aside from introducing children to strange and interesting sea creatures, Sea Monsters also teaches about the cycle of life. The children watch as a mother dolly births to young dollies, and they are saddened when the mother and male offspring die. Life does go on, and soon the female offspring travels back to the shallow waters to have a family of her own to raise and protect.
Intense Reading Experience
Written for children ages 9 to 12, Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure keeps kids on the edge of their seats. Children easily latch on to the dolly family, hoping for their survival and feeling sad when the prehistoric shark attacks the mother dolly. When the female offspring goes off to have her own offspring in the shallow waters, children are reminded of the cycle of life and its importance.
Sea Monsters is an excellent read, not only because of the storyline, but because of the interest it generates in dinosaurs. By the time the story is finished, children have a basic understanding of what life was like underwater in the Mesozoic era.
