Ocean Hide and Seek

The sea is a place of mystery, where animals big and small play hide and seek! Can you imagine a shark hiding in the light? What about a clownfish in plain sight? Don’t believe it? Then, sink into the deep blue sea with Jennifer Evans Kramer and Ocean Hide and Seek! Surround yourself with the vibrant ocean illustrations of Gary R. Phillips. The ocean is an old, old place, and the exotic animals in the depths have learned to adapt to their surroundings to survive. Can you find the creatures hidden on every page? Or will you, too, be fooled by an ancient, underwater disguise? The “For Creative Minds" learning section includes an “Animal Classification" and “Food for Thought" activity.

This nonfiction picture book with a cuddle factor includes a 5-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 33-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Ocean Hide and Seek is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension.

Written by Jennifer Evans Kramer, Illustrated by Gary R Phillips
32 pg, 10 x 8.5, Ages 4-8, Grades PK-3, Lexile: AD 670, AR: 1.8 - NQ, F&P: N

Reviews:

This effective picture book shows how ocean animals use different forms of camouflage to hide from predators. Beginning with a scene at the edge of the sea, the illustrations take readers far below the water's surface to observe wildlife hidden in various ways. - Booklist

Useful in collections where books on sea creatures or camouflage are needed. - School Library Journal

This book would be at home in the animal science, ocean ecosystem, or poetry section of a collection. It could be read aloud to a picture book audience for its literary and art value or used as a basic resource for the beginner researcher. - Library Media Connection

Author/Illustrator Info:

Jennifer Kramer loves spending time outdoors and believes children make the very best nature guides. Jennifer graduated with a BA from Emory University and a JD/MBA from Georgia State University. At Emory, she took classes in Child Psychology and Education, and worked with children at Fernbank Elementary, The Phoenix School, and the St. Stephens Infant School in Canterbury, England. Her favorite time was recess, though she was hopeless at jumping rope and hide-and-seek. The kids always found her! It was also at Emory that Jennifer obtained her NAUI scuba certification. Her first dive trip was to a rock quarry in Alabama, where there were no sea animals. Since then, she has snorkeled and dived off Maui, the Caymans, and the coast of Cozumel. She loves to talk about coming face-to-face with a white tipped reef shark! In addition to Ocean Hide and Seek , Jennifer has also written Good Luck Charlie and The Ninth Dragon. She has fiction and non-fiction stories and articles published with Highlights for Children, Ladybug, Educational Testing, McGraw Hill, and more. Jennifer currently resides in Georgia, with her husband, four children, and a standard poodle that thinks he is Elvis.

Gary R. Phillips (Animals are Sleeping, and Ocean Hide and Seek) has been a freelance illustrator for 25 years. He has illustrated for numerous clients in both the editorial and children's illustration markets receiving Verse Page Illustrator of the Year from Highlights magazine in 2003 as well as five other awards from Highlights. Gary has several books to his credit, including 86 Years: The Legend of the Red Sox, New Old Shoes, The Naptime Book, and Santa's Little Sleigh. He has also taught illustration and creative thinking as an adjunct professor. Gary lives in a rural corner of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with his wife, two daughters, and two Siamese cats. He loves camping, tennis, painting out in nature, and drawing wherever he goes. Visit Gary's website.