With a focus on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, The Coral Kingdom by Laura Knowles (illustrated by Jennie Webber; words and pictures, 2018) introduces the basic animals of the coral reef with the colorful coral reef ecosystem as the highlight of the picture book’s pages. Rhyming couplets on each page help make the text ideal for a read-aloud. The gentle watercolors show great details of the coral reef animals to discuss and observe. We can see many different animals (turtles, sting rays, jellyfish, an octopus, and seahorses) camouflaged in the sea anemones and coral.
The book ends with a gentle warning that we need to save the coral reef, as a “white” coral reef is a sign that something is wrong and is a symptom of climate change.
No informational text is provided on each page, so there is no distraction from the gorgeous illustrations, and yet the rich text introduces advanced vocabulary about habitats and ecosystems in general that is not “dumbed down” for a young reader. End matter discusses what we can do for the coral reef. The Coral Kingdom is an ideal read-aloud for anyone interested in the coral reef but especially for the youngest readers just approaching the subject for the first time.
