Down Down Down a Journey to the Bottom of the Sea 
By Steve Jenkins
ISBN  0544709519

Bibliographical Information:
Jenkins, Steve. Down, Down, Down A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea. Boston New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016. ISBN 0544709519.

Plot Summary:
In this book, Steve Jenkins takes us on a trip to the very bottom of the ocean.  “More humans have walked on the moon than have visited the deepest spot in the sea. (p.1, Jenkins)”.  Readers are taken on a visually stunning journey from the surface of the ocean down to the lowest depth.  Young readers can see what animals look like at each depth and what part of the ocean they are at on a scale at the side of each page.   Jenkins states in his introduction “In this book, we’ll descend from the sea’s surface to the sea floor and travel through one of the most extreme environments on earth.”  And what a journey it is!

Critical analysis:
Let’s talk about accuracy for a moment.  I am not a marine biologist or oceanographer, so I was not sure as to the accuracy of the information.  There is a very short Bibliography at the end of the book.  According to Kirkus Reviews “Backmatter provides some information about the animals pictured, including sizes compared to a human body or hand, although the bibliography does not seem to include the sources used for those facts.”  Kirkus also mentions that the readers will be delighted by the art. Animals were not drawn to scale so a whale may appear as big as a fish, but in real life, they are completely different sizes.  Some of the information is accurate such as which animals live at which depths.  The accuracy may be suitable for young readers as an introduction to the idea that the ocean has many depths but possibly not more than that.

The story has a logical layout as the introduction tells the readers what they are about to experience like going to an Imax movie.  Readers follow Jenkins as he takes you on a journey to the deepest depths of the ocean.  The cut-paper illustrations are colorful and support the text giving a short explanation of that ocean depth and what lives in the great depths of the ocean.  The book is easy to follow if one wants to read it aloud.  The book is also easily browsed.  In the backmatter of the book, the author includes information about each animal that readers found in the prior pages.  The report also provides size comparison to humans.  For example, krill and plankton are smaller than a human hand.  There is a recap of the scale showing what can explore each depth.  At the end of the book, there is a short bibliography.

Steve Jenkins is an award-winning author/illustrator, and it shows in his work.  The design of the book is inviting.  Young readers that cannot read the words can get a lot from the illustrations by themselves.

Awards and Reviews:
Cybils Award for Nonfiction Picture Books (2009)

BOOKLIST- “In this plunge into the deep, Jenkins displays his usual keen awareness of what is fascinating about biology”

KIRKUS REVIEWS: “Once again, Jenkins provides an almost irresistible entry into our natural world for the youngest readers.”

Connections:

Connect with Science TEK: (2) Science. In addition, students distinguish between characteristics of living organisms and nonliving objects, compare lifelong needs of plants and animals, understand how living organisms depend on their environments and identify functions of parts of plants and animals.  Use book as an introduction to this unit.

Pull other Steve Jenkins Books:
Actual Size ISBN 0547512910
What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? ISBN 061899713X
Never Smile at a Monkey ISBN 0544228014
Biggest Strongest Fastest ISBN 0395861365
What do you do When Something Wants to Eat You?  ISBN 0618152431

Students can create a poster about one of the ocean's depths.

Students can do further research on one of their favorite animals discovered in the book.
Pull other books about the ocean:
Commotion in the Ocean ISBN  186039678X
Children's Book: OCEANS: How do Oceans Work? ASIN
B00JO0OTJU
Katie and the Cosmic Pandas' Deep Sea Voyage: An Oceanic Educational Picture Book for Children ISBN13 9781465888273






References

Booklist Online: More than 170,000 book reviews for librarians, book groups, and book lovers-from the trusted experts at the American Library Association. "Booklist Online: More than 170,000 book reviews for librarians, book groups, and book lovers-from the trusted experts at the American Library Association." Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea, by Steve Jenkins | Booklist Online. Accessed March 15, 2017. https://www.booklistonline.com/Down-Down-Down-A-Journey-to-the-Bottom-of-the-Sea-Steve-Jenkins/pid=3173347.
Jenkins, Steve. "DOWN, DOWN, DOWN by Steve Jenkins , Steve Jenkins." Kirkus Reviews. Accessed March 15, 2017. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/steve-jenkins/down-down-down/.

Jenkins, Steve. Down, Down, Down A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea. Boston New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016. ISBN 0544709519.

"TEKS Resource System." TEKS Resource System. Accessed March 15, 2017. http://teksresourcesystem.net/module/profile/Account/LogOn.


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