OCEANS

How did the oceans begin? Where did all that water come from? And what lives in the darkest, deepest places on Earth?

Oceans takes young readers on a journey that begins 4.5 billion years ago, on a planet of fire and lava with no water at all, and ends at the bottom of the deepest trench on Earth. Along the way, kids discover how the first rain fell for millions of years, how the first life appeared in the sea, and why our blue planet depends on its oceans for the air we breathe and the weather we live in.

Packed with stunning full-page photorealistic illustrations, maps, and diagrams, this visual encyclopedia explains big science in a way kids ages 8 to 12 can see, understand, and remember.

INSIDE THIS BOOK

- How Earth and the Oceans Were Born: volcanoes, comets, and the rain that lasted millions of years
- What Are the Oceans? The five oceans, ocean vs. sea, and why the water is salty
- Ocean Zones: from the sunlit surface down through the twilight, midnight, abyssal, and hadal zones
- Who Lives in the Ocean? Plankton, coral reefs, sharks, strange deep-sea creatures, and the blue whale
- The Moving Ocean: waves, currents, the global conveyor belt, and tides pulled by the Moon
- The Extreme Ocean: crushing pressure, bioluminescence, hydrothermal vents, and the explorers who reached Challenger Deep
- Ocean Records: the fastest fish, the longest mountain range on Earth, the most venomous jellyfish, and a shark that can live 400 years
- Ocean and Earth: the water cycle, climate, oxygen, and why the ocean is the heart of our planet

WHY KIDS (AND PARENTS) LOVE IT

- Wow Facts and Did You Know? boxes on almost every page, with real numbers kids love to repeat
- A visual timeline of Earth's first four billion years
- True stories of exploration: the HMS Challenger expedition, the discovery of life at hydrothermal vents, and the first dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench
- Short, clear text that works for independent readers and for reading together
- Perfect for curious kids, classrooms, homeschool earth science, and as a gift for any young ocean lover

Part of the Our Living Planet series: beautifully illustrated nonfiction that shows children how our world works. Also available: Forests.