So perhaps you’ve noticed (or not) that during this Picture Book Month, I’ve been attempting to group together like titles in one day’s posting. I’m determined to reduce the piles of dozens of PBs that have been growing like Topsy all year into nothing to start with a clean slate in the new year. So far, it hasn’t been too difficult to bunch a group. Today’s is quite aqua-based.
An A-Z of Ocean Creatures – Myke Mollard
Imprint: WOODSLANE PRESS
ISBN: 9781923350038
Release Date: November, 2025
RRP: $29.99
I’ve only had a few of Myke’s books come my way [my parcels from Woodslane appear to be a bit hit-and-miss really] but this is another of his spectacularly and gloriously illustrated wealth of visual information for kiddos, especially those interested in aquatic animals.
It’s a big A3 size book – you know, the kind that kids love to pounce on because the bigger the book, the smarter they look, hey? For each letter of the alphabet Myke has compiled a very comprehensive list of the creatures found in oceans around the world. The very names will entrance them. Who won’t love to roll some of these around on their tongue?
Dottyback.
Elegant squat lobster.
Jewelled topsnail.
Monkeyface prickleback.
Sheephead wrasse.
Whitefin swellshark.
Zebra turkeyfish.
And I haven’t even made a dent in the lists! Most are single pages but there are some double spreads to accommodate all the species in longer lists. There are also lists for abyssal creatures and various types of coral reefs. The back matter lays out smaller images of the pages with a key to all the creatures pictured.
The magnificent endpapers are a wonderful map, Spillhaus Projection, of the world’s oceans with continents and countries also labelled, some seas and informational paragraphs. This is exactly the type of non-fiction book that kiddos love to pore over studying each detailed page in close-up, with rapt attention.
Of course, it will fit beautifully with your classroom/library UoI to do with this subject matter, but it is also a perfect fit, especially gift, for a young budding marine scientist or conservationist. Myke’s passion for the latter is worth discussing in your conversations around this and pointing your young Marine Eco-warriors in the direction of finding out more. A swimmingly big 5 🌊🐙🐳🪸🦐
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