Title: Ocean A Visual Encyclopedia
Published By: Dorling Kindersley, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4654-3594-1
Author: John Woodward

Darla and Andrew are fascinated with Ocean A Visual Encyclopedia and Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide (review coming soon!).

Ocean is part of the DK Smithsonian Collection and as you would suspect it is overflowing with color photographs, color diagrams and interesting facts about the underwater world.

Ocean is designed as a children’s visual encyclopedia and is completely engaging to young readers. The recommended age group is from 8 to 12 years. My children are 4 and 6 and they love sitting with me and learning about the undersea world. It is something we take the time to do together and they are completely pulled in by the visual details included in Ocean.

Ocean A Visual Encyclopedia

The first section is:

Atlas of the Oceans

This includes: Oceans of the World, Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is referring to what I have always known as the Antarctic Ocean…so within the first few pages I already learned something new myself!

Next we are introduced to:

Blue Planet

This includes: Planet ocean; How oceans are formed; New land; Ocean floor; Mid-ocean ridges; The deepest depths; Grinding plates; Evolving Oceans; Mid-ocean ridges; The deepest depths; Grinding plates; Evolving oceans; Tsunamis; Hotspots; Lava flow; Continental shelves; Changing sea levels; Ocean water; Light, heat and sound; Oceanic winds; Oceanic storms, Waves, Plunging breaker; Surface currents; Sargasso Sea; Upwelling zones and Deepwater currents.

The Open Ocean

This includes: Depth Zones; Sunlit Zones; Zooplankton; Drifting jellies; The food chain; Hungry schools; Oceanic hunters; Bait ball; Sharks; Filter-feeding giants; Baleen whales; Lunge-feeding whales; Toothed whales and dolphins; Ocean birds; Twilight zone; Dark zone; Ocean floor life and Life on black smokers.

Shallow Seas

This includes: Fertile waters; The seabed; Seaweeds; Kelp forests; Sea otter; Seafloor fish; Sea snails and clams; Squid, octopus, and cuttlefish; Hatching octopus; Prawns, lobsters, and crabs; Starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers; Jellyfish and anemones; Corals and coral reefs; The Great Barrier Reef; Reef Fish; Reef invertebrates; Giant clam and Atolls and lagoons.

Coast and Seashore

This includes: Tides; Wave power; Cliffs and caves; Twelve apostles; Rocky shore life; Tide pools; Beaches, dunes, and spits; Hidden riches; Shorebirds; Oystercatchers; Seabird colonies; Sea turtles; Shore crabs; Estuaries and mudflats; Deltas; Salt marshes; Mangrove swamps; Scarlet ibis; Seagrass beds and Sea snakes and crocodiles.

Polar Seas

This includes: Polar extremes; Sea ice; Life under the ice; Crabeater seals and penguins; Sleek hunters; Antarctic hunters; Antarctic islands; Glaciers and ice shelves; Icebergs; Blue icebergs; Arctic seals; Icy nurseries; Hunters on the ice and Humans on the ice.

Oceans and Us

This final section includes: Voyages of discovery; Ocean science; Scuba diving; Deep-sea submersibles; Historic shipwrecks; Minerals from the oceans; Energy from the oceans; Fishing; Stilt fishing; Ocean trade; Oceans in danger; Climate change; Marine conservation and Captive breeding.

The Glossary and Index are included at the end of the publication.

Some of the other DK books in the Smithsonian collection are:

• Natural History
• Knowledge Encyclopedia
• Firearms: An Illustrated History
• Geography: A Visual Encyclopedia
• The Civil War
• Music
• History Year by Year
• Dinosaur! (Darla wants this one!)
• Earth (Second Edition)
• Timelines of Science
• Aircraft
• Wildlife of the World
• Design

If you enjoy sharing information with your children these books are a fantastic resource to have on hand! Curious minds seek knowledge – and books are a fantastic and fun way to educate children while you spend time together.

You can check out the other great books available at DK Canada here:

You can purchase your own copy of Ocean, A Visual Encyclopedia at Amazon.

Shopping from Canada:

Shopping from the U.S.:

Shopping from the U.K.:

All images are used with permission from DK Canada Books. For more information about DK Canada Books – visit their Website, Facebook or Twitter!