Review Detail

TELL ME ABOUT OCEANS is an intriguing board book that teaches young readers basic information about the ocean. The story follows a question and answer format as a young girl and her father spend a day at the beach. Call-out boxes on each page spread provide additional context and information about the answers.

What I loved: This is a cute and quite detailed idea. The story can be read as just the questions and simple answer format, and this is rhyming. It flows smoothly, and the rhymes are great to listen to. For more curious and a bit older readers, the call-out boxes have a lot of information to explain concepts like the tides and bioluminescence in easy-to-understand terms. The illustrations are pretty and include plenty of detail throughout.

What left me wanting more: The call-out boxes are quite large and detailed, which makes it a tough fit in the board book format. The rhyme works well for little ones, but the information may work better for older readers aging out of the board book format. The book does not quite have a story-like quality, as there are no transition or helper words - it is really just the question and answer, so readers who enjoy a story will need to fill that in on their own.

Final verdict: Overall, TELL ME ABOUT OCEANS is an educational board book that will work well when read at the simplest form but also could be expanded upon for more curious readers.