Nonfiction That Makes the Grade: Coral Reefs by Gail Gibbons

Here in the sunny South school is in its last month, state standardized tests have been bubbled in, and legions of big, yellow buses are rolling out on the annual elementary field trips, and a lot of those buses are parking their passengers inside science museums and aquariums all over the countryside.

Making these trips a real learning experience (outside of the inevitable choral experience of "99 Bottles of *Censored* on the Wall") means prepping students for what they are going to see, and Gail Gibbons' recent Coral Reefs is a great nonfiction trade book which covers the basics on coral reef ecology.

Gibbons packs a plethora of information about reefs into what looks like a colorful picture book. Covered are the world map locations of coral reefs, the three types of coral reefs (shoreline, barrier, and atoll), the three zones of reefs (shore, crest reef, and fore reef), the two types of coral polyps (soft and hard), day and night variations on coral reefs, and illustrations of the many plants and animals--from tiny zooplankton and algae to huge mantas and groupers--that survive symbiotically in the coral reef biome. Gibbons points up the crucial conditions for coral reef development, crystal clear water which admits sunlight, algae which live inside the coral polyps and carry on photosynthesis which provides the sugar upon which the coral feeds, and critical water temperatures between 64 degrees and 88 degrees.

The vivid watercolor and black line illustrations show the whole process, with many inset enlargements to depict structure and function, and there are hundreds of reef-loving animals shown in their favorite reef habitat. A special double-page spread is devoted to Australia's Great Barrier Reef and some of its inhabitants-- a Nemo-like clownfish in his sea anemone comfort zone, pincushion urchins, bubble coral, a long-horned cowfish, and crown of thorns starfish, for example. An illustrated section featuring facts and figures about coral reefs is also appended.