"On Kiki's Reef" Children's Book Review

            Hey folks! Do you like sneak previews? Finding fun AND informative children's books? Both? Me too! This week I will be sharing FOUR "sneak preview" reviews with you of the upcoming Spring 2014 book releases from Dawn Publications!

            Dawn Publications offers a variety of nature related books for children in hopes of instilling a better understand and appreciation of our natural world and the creatures that live in it. You may remember my reviews of the Dawn Pub board books Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme and Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef  from several months ago. These are wonderful books to introduce younger children to different habitats and the exotic animals that live in them. Today's book up for review, On Kiki's Reef, is no different!

            Appropriate for ages 4-10, On Kiki's Reef explores the life of a green sea turtle and the coral reef where she lives. Along the way children will discover where sea turtles are born, where they live in different stages of their life, what they eat, and more. They'll also be introduced to friends (and foes) of Kiki the green sea turtle that live in and around her coral reef home, such as anemones, clown fish, tiger sharks, barracudas, tangs, wrasses, and much more.

            The first thing I liked about this book was that it's accurate and honest. I liked the "realness" of it. It's about a fictional turtle, yes, but other than that it's not all cutesy, if you get what I mean. Instead, it's factual and actually includes some of the scarier parts of being a sea turtle living in the wide open ocean, such as the threat of being eaten by a tiger shark and getting caught in fishermen's nets. It's not meant to scare children, but be factual and hopefully foster an appreciation of the turtle.

            I also liked that the information about the ocean life is written in such a way that it's interesting to children. It's very straightforward and not wordy, so kids won't get bored or bogged down with TOO MUCH information.

            For kids that are at the older end of the age range that the book is geared towards, there are activity ideas at the end of the book as well. These are great for expanding upon and helping kids to remember what they learned. The activities would work well for regular classrooms or a homeschool setting.

            There are also several pages that give more information on the creatures featured in the book, such as the grouper, parrotfish, and seahorse, which I thought was really neat. Yes, I actually read through them, and yes, I actually learned a few things! There is even a map of the world that highlights where coral reefs are as well.

            If you're looking for a fun but informative book to introduce your children to sea creatures or add to an ocean unit at school, definitely be sure to check out "On Kiki's Reef" by Carol L. Malnor!