Wow! Ocean!    by Robert Neubecker Order:  USA  Can Hyperion, 2011 (2011) Hardcover     Reviewed by Bob Walch Izzy lives in the mountains but her family takes the young girl and her sister Jo to the ocean for a summer vacation. What the girls see literally knocks their socks off! Wow, look at that beach and all the people. That pretty much is the text for this book and what follows! 'Wow! Shells! Wow! Tide Pool! Wow! Fish!' You get the idea, I think! So, why purchase this picture book since the minimalist textual approach does not provide any narrative? The only reason to pick up a copy of Wow! Ocean! is because your child will be drawn in by the full page illustrations of sea life. The big, bold pictures are eye catching and colorful and there's a lot going on in each two page spread. So in this case, a picture is worth over a thousand words! Also, if you look closely, you'll notice very small print is used to identify the types of sea life pictured. Aimed at children three years of age and up, this is a very busy book. Granted there's lots to look at, including some really great fold-outs of a reef and pod of whales, but I think this book would work better with an older child. There's a lot to take in here and digest. The book, though, could be used to help a child identify each creature or object pictured. For example, you can ask, 'Where's the sunken treasure?' or 'Where's the Gray Shark?' Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews