The Strangest Thing in the Sea and Other Curious Creatures of the Deep

Beginning with a delightfully mysterious introduction, The Strangest Thing in the Sea and Other Curious Creatures of the Deep will hook readers from the very first page:

The seas are filled with strangeness.

Dancing feathers. Goblin teeth. See-through heads. Creatures that seem to be made from stardust.

Some animals carry lanterns to light their way…or is it to lure their victims through the darkness? Some seem to be rocks, but rocks don’t swallow their dinners whole…or do they? Not everything is quite as it seems.

The seas are filled with strangeness. But what is the strangest thing of all?

This gatefold style book features 13 sea creatures that introduce themselves by means of a short description (“I am long, soft and ghostly. My nose is pointed like a witch’s and my teeth are downright spooky.”) and intriguing art that reveals only part of the animal’s body, an approach which adds to the mystery and provides a mere hint of what is behind the gatefold. Once the gatefold is opened, the animal is seen in its entirety in its natural habitat. The sea creatures (hairy frogfish, feather star and pygmy seahorse, to name a few) tell their stories in the first person, showcasing their uniqueness, but, at the end of each story, the suspense builds as the creature admits that it is not the strangest thing in the sea. This remark propels the book forward until the narrative reaches its surprising conclusion when the strangest creature is finally revealed.

In addition to the main body of the text, several small fact boxes provide information about specific characteristics as well as the animal’s size, prey, habitat and the ocean depth at which it lives. The final gatefold depicts the various zones in the sea, from the sunlit zones at the top to the abyss, an area that is 4000-6000 meters deep. Readers will learn several new terms, some examples of which are “trinocular vision” and “marine snow”, the latter referring to tiny bits of organic matter that drift to the ocean floor like snowflakes. A glossary is included.

Illustrations are rendered on dark backgrounds of moody blues, teals, greens and browns with occasional pops of brighter colours, and the artist’s use of white adds an eerie glow to the creatures in their murky habitats. The combination of obscure clues and the appealing illustrations is highly effective and perfectly suits the book’s suspenseful nature.

Well worthy of purchase, this informative book is both fun and fascinating.