Here are 65 books that Hello, World! Ocean Life fans have personally recommended if you like
Hello, World! Ocean Life.
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I’m a third-grade teacher turned book editor and writer who loves learning about the fascinating world God has made and exploring how it all points back to him. During my time in the classroom, I worked at a Christian classical school where my grade’s scientific focus was astronomy. I loved introducing my students to this awe-inspiring, gigantic universe that we are a part of and considering together just how big, powerful, and loving God must be to have designed and created it all. I am also mom to two wonderfully curious children who love to read, explore, and ask big questions.
If your kids love science and learning about God’s interesting world, picture books by Steve Jenkins are a must-have for your home library!
While it’s hard to choose a favorite, our family loves this one because it is packed with fascinating and weird animal facts (did you know there’s a lizard that shoots blood out of its eyes?) alongside beautifully detailed, Caldecott award–winning illustrations. Also, for those kids who want to dig deeper, there is a very informative backmatter section that will encourage further discovery.
Other Steve Jenkins recommendations include Biggest, Strongest, Fastest; Actual Size; and Bones, but our family has yet to find a Steve Jenkins book we haven’t liked!
In this beautiful Caldecott Honor picture book, Steven Jenkins and illustrator Robin Page explore the many amazing things animals can do with eyes, ears, mouth, noses, feet, and tails. Young readers will relish the mystery behind this interactive guessing book.
A nose for digging? Ears for seeing? Eyes that squirt blood? Turn the page to find out which marvelous animal these attributes belong to.
With six full spreads illustrated in cut-paper collage and an end glossary with even more fantastic facts, readers will learn about species of birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, mammals, and arthropods.
I’m a third-grade teacher turned book editor and writer who loves learning about the fascinating world God has made and exploring how it all points back to him. During my time in the classroom, I worked at a Christian classical school where my grade’s scientific focus was astronomy. I loved introducing my students to this awe-inspiring, gigantic universe that we are a part of and considering together just how big, powerful, and loving God must be to have designed and created it all. I am also mom to two wonderfully curious children who love to read, explore, and ask big questions.
This wacky science experiment/devotional book is a great resource for families with kids of all ages to explore the deep connection between faith and science.
It has over fifty fun, relatively uncomplicated, hands-on science experiments along with areas for kids to practice core scientific skills, including creating and testing hypotheses and recording observations. Each experiment is also paired with a Scripture passage and related devotion in a way that feels natural and not contrived.
I love that I can easily pull this book off the shelf for a quick science experiment with my kids, or I can choose to turn it into a longer devotional time for our family. I also love that it clearly lays out how all science is meant to point us to God!
Faith and Science with Dr. Fizzlebop features 52 easy experiments kids and parents can do together once a week or at their convenience. Each experiment will have a how-to video featured in the free Fizzlebop Labs web series launching in fall ’21. Building on Dr. Fizzlebop’s desire to show kids how faith and science connect, each experiment connects to a devotional that allows kids to go deeper and learn about God’s amazing design for everything around them. On average, each experiment takes 5 to 10 minutes and the devotional is an additional 5 minutes.Our expert and guide, Dr. Phineas Einstein…
I’m a third-grade teacher turned book editor and writer who loves learning about the fascinating world God has made and exploring how it all points back to him. During my time in the classroom, I worked at a Christian classical school where my grade’s scientific focus was astronomy. I loved introducing my students to this awe-inspiring, gigantic universe that we are a part of and considering together just how big, powerful, and loving God must be to have designed and created it all. I am also mom to two wonderfully curious children who love to read, explore, and ask big questions.
This National Geographic Little Kids book gives elementary children age-appropriate, true answers to fun, mind-bending science puzzles.
It is filled with tons of questions about how the world works, interesting facts, funny brain teasers, science experiments, and colorful pictures. I love that it encourages kids to think deeply about God’s world because God is not afraid of our scientific questions. In fact, asking “Why?” can be an act of worship!
This book has so much inside to keep kids coming back again and again to read on their own or with a parent while feeding their curiosity and interest in God’s world.
I’m a third-grade teacher turned book editor and writer who loves learning about the fascinating world God has made and exploring how it all points back to him. During my time in the classroom, I worked at a Christian classical school where my grade’s scientific focus was astronomy. I loved introducing my students to this awe-inspiring, gigantic universe that we are a part of and considering together just how big, powerful, and loving God must be to have designed and created it all. I am also mom to two wonderfully curious children who love to read, explore, and ask big questions.
This book recommendation is a bit unusual because it is not officially a children’s book, but I promise your kids will love it!
When I taught third grade, I had this book in my classroom, and it was a very hot commodity during independent reading time (although it wasn’t so much read as marveled at). With stunning, close-up images of all the planets, as well as moons, comets, asteroids, and more, this book will inspire your children to consider the magnificence of God’s creation and God himself as the one who created it all!
This is a book you’ll want to have out on a table, ready to be explored and discussed as a family. I guarantee you and your kids will be fascinated!
Examines the solar system, with almost two-hundred images, every planet is visited in this journey into space using robotic scouts and powerful telescopes.
I am an author of five books for children. I am also an avid reader of middle grade fiction, especially speculative fiction. I love exploring other people’s imaginations. It’s not only entertaining, but incredibly inspiring. Like most people, when I discover a book that I love, I can’t wait to share it with my friends. I hope you love these selections as much as I do! It was really hard to limit myself to just five.
Imagination + humor. The opening line of this books is one of my favorites – “Kidnapping children is not a good idea. All the same, sometimes it has to be done.” – Ibbotson was a genius at combining fantastical settings with humor. This book in particular spoke to my childhood fantasies of taking care of strange animals and visiting exotic locales. It’s a whole lot of fun, like all her books.
When the kindly old aunts decide that they need help caring for creatures who live on their hidden island, they know that adults can't be trusted. What they need are a few special children who can keep a secret-a secret as big as a magical island. And what better way to get children who can keep really big secrets, than to kidnap them! (After all, some children just plain need to be kidnapped.) Don't miss this wildly inventive and funny read from master storyteller Eva Ibbotson.
I love fish—to look at and read about—not to eat! Fish are unlike other pets. You can’t hold them, or pet them, and you certainly can’t “play” with them the way you can other pets. But for some reason, just looking at them makes me laugh. And because fish don’t say much besides “glug” (although some kinds sing and grunt) we need to imagine what they are thinking and feeling which makes for funny and surprising stories. And, yes, I have pet goldfish: an orange one, Norman, and a black fantail named Knot.
Pout-Pout fish is a grumpy looking, grumpy acting fish who “spreads the dreary-wearies all over the place” and everyone he encounters tries to talk him out of being grumpy. Simple as that, but not! The Pout-Pout Fish books, every one of them, combines three elements that make a fabulous read-aloud: fun/interesting to look at; fun and easy to read; fun satisfying ending. Diesen’s Pout-Pout bouncy rhyming rhythm will jolly the grumpy out of everyone—whether fish or human. Yes, the refrain will get stuck in your heads—in a good way!
"Deep in the water, Mr. Fish swims about With his fish face stuck In a permanent pout.
Can his pals cheer him up? Will his pout ever end? Is there something he can learn From an unexpected friend?"
Swim along with the pout-pout fish as he discovers that being glum and spreading "dreary wearies" isn't really his destiny. Bright ocean colors and playful rhyme come together in Deborah Diesen's fun fish story that's sure to turn even the poutiest of frowns upside down.
Ever since my parents gave me a copy of Dorothy Aldis’ The Secret Place and Other Poems, I have enjoyed a lifelong love of poetry. Now, as a traditionally-published children’s author, I have had numerous books and poems published over the years, including books that began as poems, like Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) and Once Upon Another Time (Beaming Books, 2021). My poems can be found in various anthologies including The National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry (N.G. Children’s Books, 2015) and Construction People (Wordsong, 2020) as well as Highlights for Children magazine.
Leslie Bulion combines her love of science and poetry to create fascinating, fun, and memorable books. While she has published several animal poetry collections, At the Sea Floor Caféstands out for its exceptional balance of science fact and literary value.
Leslie is extremely skilled at finding the perfect poetic forms and phrases to do her subjects justice while never veering off into overt didacticism. Fun and surprising, this book is perfect for the nature science lover in the family.
Dive in--to award-winning, funny science poetry about a remarkable array of sea creatures! AT THE SEA FLOOR CAFE: ODD OCEAN CRITTER POEMS is a creative nonfiction companion to elementary and middle school ocean studies. Let s visit a habitat shallow and deep, and boiling hot, where acids seep, and frigid and pressured and mountainy-steep, Come explore the sea!
Examine odd critters, enormous and tiny, sunlit reef toasty and arctic ice briny, jelly-ish, delicate, venomy, spiny, They all live in the sea!
What sea creature literally spills its guts when disturbed? Why do bottlenose dolphins wear sponges on their heads?
As a children’s author of board books through picture books (Baby Code series, Chicks!,Bizarre Birds, and The Biggest Pumpkin) and as a librarian, I love books that make children feel good and loved. When I was working on my picture book The Giant Hug, I researched what other hug books had been published. There weren’t many back in 2002, but I continued to be on the lookout even after mine was published. I’m happy to report that there are quite a few hug books out there now, spreading love, hugs, and kindness to readers of all ages. We all need them!
Author-illustrator Ellie Peterson’s recently published book How to Hug a Pufferfishis much needed in today’s world. It’s a story not only about giving hugs, but also about asking permission to give a hug. In an engaging and fun way with cartoonish illustrations, Peterson uses the prickly pufferfish to humorously show that not everyone wants to receive a hug all the time. If you’re a pufferfish, you need to be asked. It’s a book about consent for the youngest readers, presented in the sweetest age-appropriate way you can imagine. I will definitely be reading this at my story time, and might even gift this to a few prickly adults!
A picture book about a group of underwater friends who learn to ask for permission before showing their prickly, pufferfish pal some love.
So, you want to hug a pufferfish...
Who could blame you? That friendly, gap-toothed grin is hard to resist! Only, when Pufferfish is hugged or touched unexpectedly by their friends, things can get a little…spiky.
It’s not that Pufferfish doesn’t ever want hugs—it’s just that they need to have a say in when and how they’re hugged. Luckily, they have great friends who are willing to listen and learn the best ways to show Pufferfish some love…
I am a children’s book author who is awed by the ocean and the creatures that dwell in its depths. I love writing for kids because they’re unabashedly eager, enthusiastic, and curious! To write this book, I dove deep into researching information about the ocean. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know. I kept thinking, kids will love these fascinating facts and they’ll want to learn more. The wonderful books on this list tell amazing tales, take kids on adventures, and turn dry facts into a deluge of fun. These nonfiction stories offer kids opportunities to become immersed in our awesome ocean!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and believe young readers will, too!
It traces billions of years of ocean history from “when the Earth was young and new…so hot, rock melted and boiled,” through millennia of marvelous creatures, to the present day with children exploring the shore. In eminently readable rhyme, it conveys an impressive amount of information in an interesting and accessible way.
One of the best parts of the books is in the back: an ingeniously illustrated timeline. Illustrations are dynamic and dramatic, some literally exploding with color and action. They are a joy to look at and will certainly help kiddos understand the science concepts presented.
The New York Public Library Best Books for Kids List (2023)
A lyrical, spectacular history of the ocean—from its dramatic evolutionary past to its marvelously biodiverse present.
“For millions of years these first bits of life Became more, and then more, and then more.”
Long, long ago, when the Earth was young and new, the world was a fiery place. Volcanoes exploded from deep down below, and steamy, hot clouds rose up high. Rain poured down for thousands of years, filling the world’s very first oceans. There the teeniest stirrings of life began. Earth’s creatures grew bigger and bigger, evolving…
I love wild empty beaches, traveling to unusual places, swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving. These interests combined one year when my family spent Christmas at a remote dive resort in Papua New Guinea. I was fascinated by the colourful reef creatures, nudibranchs, coral, anemones, reef sharks, and octopuses. Then I heard about the ancient practice of shark calling…I write across genres and researched anthropomorphism in children’s literature for my PhD, with The Shark Caller and The Dog with Seven Names being my linked creative works. I live near the ocean in southwestern Australia, am a bookworm, and a full-time author of 25 titles (and counting).
I’m an ocean swimmer and snorkeler, and this book took me to depths and places beyond my previous experience. The free-diving aspect is inspirational. Based on the award-winning movie, My Octopus Teacher, Ross and Craig’s journey has encouraged me to look at octopus and other wildlife differently.
It’s an extraordinarily moving story, both beautiful and sad. I hope the images and content will inspire people to protect our oceans.
From the creators of the Academy Award-winning documentary My Octopus Teacher, an immersive journey into the underwater world that inspired it—and holds transformative lessons for us all
Craig Foster and Ross Frylinck regularly dive together in the awe-inspiring kelp forests off South Africa, without wetsuits or oxygen tanks. Craig had dived this way for years, including alongside the octopus that inspired My Octopus Teacher. In Ross, he found a kindred spirit, someone who also embraced the ancient methods of acclimating his body to frigid waters, but whose eyes had not yet adjusted to the transcendent wonder Craig saw each time…
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