Under the Arctic Ice

Under the Arctic Ice is a colourful, fact-filled book for any middle school reader who is interested in facts about under the Arctic ice. This book includes information about some Arctic living creatures, like ice algae, different types of plankton, copepods, amphipods, sea butterflies, sea angels, comb jellies, snailfish, eelpout, feather star, sea pen, basket star, Iceland scallop, polar bear, beluga whale and bowhead whale. It also covers the ecosystem between the sea and the ice and how the greenhouse effect and warmer Earth temperatures affect the Arctic.

Every two-page spread has about 10-15 sentences of information with icy blue, grey and white coloured toned illustrations. This book is a very thorough introduction to the Arctic ice nonfiction genre. Because the font size of the text is largish, this book could be appealing to reluctant readers. The scientific names are provided for each Arctic sea creature presented in the book. There are just enough fun facts about each topic before it becomes too overwhelming for the middle school reader. A table of contents and glossary would have helped prepare the reader for all the various topics discussed and Arctic vocabulary referenced in this book. Nevertheless, an index is included at the end of the book as well as a list of things readers can do to help save the Arctic and its inhabitants.

Overall, Under the Arctic Ice is an appealing and informative read for middle schoolers as well as reluctant readers. The cool and icy visuals paired with the interesting and scientific facts about the Arctic will attract the attention of the targeted audience.