Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas (Sunlight Series)

I got this and a companion book as gifts for my grade-school grandkids - this for the fifth grader. It is a sophisticated yet still easy to read book that kept him engaged.

I love the illustrations in the book and how it presents a complicated topic in a way that is accessible to children. Specifically it does a beautiful job of explaining how the oceans are vital to land life. I had no idea that 50% of our oxygen comes from phytoplankton, for example. It does a beautiful job of explaining the ocean food chain in a really poetic but scientifically accurate way. We checked it out from the library and I ended up buying it, which I almost never do. It was interesting enough that my kids want to read it repeatedly, just like any fiction storybook.

This trilogy of books is a great resource. This book especially highlights the fact that much of the air we breathe is provided by phytoplankton. As a children's librarian, this is a great opener for environmental units or for Earth Day. The other two in the series are equally as good. I've read it to interested second graders through fifth graders, though it would be useful even in the middle school to set off a unit.

The cover price is fairly high, but it is really lovely. Clearly painted and written with love. It has a bit of magic in it.

Book is a part of my classroom library and used with my reading series

This book is beautifully written and illustrated, in a way that will engage the most reluctant learner. Such an important and difficult topic presented in a creative and magical story.

One of my favorite books for the classroom! Not only is the science great but the writing craft is awesome also!

Love these books!