snorkgurl's review

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4.0

Environmental hopefulness, a call to action, beautiful art and a lot of love. A great read.

jaij7's review

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5.0

We need to save the coral reefs. End of discussion. Must do.

mnstucki's review

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4.0

The illustrations are beautiful and I loved the true story of conservation/restoration of natural resources. ❤️

kristi_starr35's review

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3.0

I would rate this book closer to 3.5. The artwork is beautiful; Matthew Forsythe has done, as expected, an amazing job illustrating this book. The key to appreciating the book is to focus on the subtitle: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reefs.

This is the story of Ken Nedimyer, a conservationist focusing on rebuilding coral reefs around the world. You will find little about the causes that necessitate rebuilding, though inferred in the text and somewhat addressed at the end of the book. You will find allusions to problems such as the disappearance of sea urchins. Again, other than a line in the end notes about what "some scientists think" in regard to the role of sea urchins, the issue is raised but then dropped.

Also somewhat perplexing is the coral reef vocabulary. Several of the words defined are never used in the text (exoskeleton, polyp, gametes), while other potentially unfamiliar words (invertebrates, epoxy) are not explained. That said, the additional information - "What happened to the coral reefs?" / "How can kids help?" - "Read more" - "Explore online" - "Articles" - can be helpful in filling in the gaps not addressed in the text.

Again, if you focus on Nedimyer's concepts for rebuilding reefs, you will encounter exactly what you expected. If you want a deeper explanation about the challenges facing the reefs, their ecosystems, and other solutions, you won't really find it here.

mwbuell's review against another edition

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5.0

I read this book to my class this week to launch our unit on how humans effect ecosystems. It was also perfect for Earth Day! The illustrations were beautiful and it launched a great conversation about how we can solve problems in our ecosystem.

duke_and_turk's review

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5.0

A true story of the passion and innovation of one man to rebuild coral reefs. Messner's story is elevated by Forsythe's stunning pictures! I could tear out and frame each page!

mldeblois13's review

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5.0

Loved this book, but on the science side, I wish that the author would have included the asexual reproduction of the coral not just the sexual one... (http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/the-reef/corals/coral-reproduction).

internationalkris's review

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4.0

This was a beautifully made book (and not too texty!) about one method for rebuilding the world's coral reefs. I am looking forward to sharing it with my second graders soon.

alinaborger's review

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5.0

A picture-book biography of Ken Nedimyer, a Florida man who invented a method of transplanting coral that is helping reefs to recover.

lphel's review

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5.0

Gorgeous illustrations and a very important topic. Great nonfiction picture book.