Old Shell New Shell Coral Reef Tale Templar

A hermit crab who has outgrown his shell searches for a new one among the creatures of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Includes a key which identifies the coral reef animals in the illustrations. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly A brilliantly illustrated coral reef teeming with clownfish, spiny lobsters and sea slugs dominates this fictional account of a small hermit crab in search of a larger shell. In fact, Ward's (The Animal's Christmas Carol) paintings are so dazzling that the anthropomorphic story pales a bit in comparison. The tale opens lyrically: "In the watery gardens, where sea anemones flowered and fish as bright as butterflies sailed among the coral, there lived a hermit crab!" But the tone is not sustained, and the text is sometimes confusing (for example, the crab laments, "I need a shell... with some of these," but it's very difficult to tell what he is referring to). Some design features can be disconcerting (words are seemingly randomly emphasized with a large font), but the final sumptuous illustration that opens to a four-page panorama is appropriately impressive. The nine-page appendix describes the Great Barrier Reef setting and contains a numbered, smaller version of each painting that links detailed information about the habits and interdependency of the organisms found in coral reefs to many different fish and plants that populate the underwater scenes. Ages 5-7. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From School Library Journal Kindergarten-Grade 1--As in Eric Carle's A House for Hermit Crab (Picture Book Studio, 1991), a very small hermit crab (who "had been smaller") is forced to move from the shell he loves because it is getting tight. Radiant, full-spread illustrations in pen-and-ink with jewel-toned watercolor-and-gouache washes illuminate a rather mundane tale set on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. Oddly chosen words are inexplicably set in boldface, making for slightly choppy reading. A gatefold center spread signals a happy resolution to the tale: the crustacean can inhabit the shell of a bigger hermit crab that is also moving into a larger abode. A detailed key follows in which each creature in the story is identified by common and scientific Latin name with a brief description of points of interest in the species. This key, a history of reefs worldwide, and an appeal for reef conservation are in much smaller print and on a higher reading level. This book could be an auxiliary volume in a collection about habitats and/or ecology, but Carle's story wins out. Dona Ratterree, The Parkside School, New York City Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.