A graceful bundle of nerves three times as ancient as the dinosaurs, the jellyfish is no fish but a spineless invertebrate without brain, heart, blood, or bones. Inside glass tanks in crowded aquariums, jellies hold visitors rapt with their slow-motion water ballet. Most of the world’s nearly four thousand species emit an otherworldly light, glowing red, yellow, violet, or blue in the underwater dark. Fifty species boast deadly venom, including pink meanies with boa-like tentacles, box jellies with two-dozen eyes apiece, and deadliest of all, cubozoans the size of human thumbnails. Coretta Scott King Award–winning author Carole Boston Weatherford brings poetry and playfulness to natural science as she shares her fascination with a singular creature. Fourteen wildly divergent poems—by turns dramatic and serene—pulse with life. From spreads of shimmering bioluminescence to graphic panels, stylish artwork blends poetry with science and fact with folklore and myth to form the ideal introduction to the “immortal” and mysterious jellyfish.
- Books
- Kids Fiction & Indies
- Kids Fiction
- Fourteen Ways of Looking At Jellyfish
Fourteen Ways of Looking At Jellyfish
New
Author(s)
Publisher
Genre(s)
Age Range
6+
Release Date
May 26, 2026
ISBN
978-1536235074
Buy This Book
With dozens of major awards between them, a revered poet and a versatile artist pool their mastery to sing the praises of an undersea wonder.
Editor review
1 review
Beautiful collection of poems about Jellyfish
(Updated: June 22, 2026)
Overall rating
4.3
Plot
3.0
Characters
4.0
Writing Style
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
5.0
Fourteen Ways of Looking at Jellyfish is a collection of poems that offer various perspectives at looking at jellyfish.
What I Liked: This book is a collection of brief poems that give you various perspectives of viewing a jellyfish. Each poem takes you into a different setting and allows the reader to get a glimpse at a jellyfish through a new lens. Some of the poems provide us with further information about jellyfish such as the classes they belong to, their life cycle, and the different places they exist such as the museum and the ocean.
The illustrations throughout this book help place you in the setting that the poem is taking place in as well as the perspective that the poem is providing. The realistic and detail oriented illustrations provide us with beautiful, eye catching images of jellyfish and the places that they exist in. Some of the illustrations are historical such as showing dinosaurs and jellyfish co-existing, others are of the vast ocean, while others are cartoon-like providing you graphics of a scene with a child and a jellyfish interacting.
Final Verdict: Fourteen Ways of Looking at Jellyfish is a beautiful homage to the marine animal and provides you with different perspectives. Children ages 6 and up will appreciate the mesmerizing illustrations and the poems that go along with them helping you learn more about jellyfish with each turn of the page. This is also one that adults will appreciate with the soft poems highlighting this marine animal and the beauty of the jellyfish along with its dangers.
What I Liked: This book is a collection of brief poems that give you various perspectives of viewing a jellyfish. Each poem takes you into a different setting and allows the reader to get a glimpse at a jellyfish through a new lens. Some of the poems provide us with further information about jellyfish such as the classes they belong to, their life cycle, and the different places they exist such as the museum and the ocean.
The illustrations throughout this book help place you in the setting that the poem is taking place in as well as the perspective that the poem is providing. The realistic and detail oriented illustrations provide us with beautiful, eye catching images of jellyfish and the places that they exist in. Some of the illustrations are historical such as showing dinosaurs and jellyfish co-existing, others are of the vast ocean, while others are cartoon-like providing you graphics of a scene with a child and a jellyfish interacting.
Final Verdict: Fourteen Ways of Looking at Jellyfish is a beautiful homage to the marine animal and provides you with different perspectives. Children ages 6 and up will appreciate the mesmerizing illustrations and the poems that go along with them helping you learn more about jellyfish with each turn of the page. This is also one that adults will appreciate with the soft poems highlighting this marine animal and the beauty of the jellyfish along with its dangers.
User reviews
There are no user reviews for this listing.
Already have an account? Log in now or Create an account
Latest Additions
GET A YABC BUTTON!
We have all sorts of YABC buttons for your website. Grab one here and link to YABC!