One Lonely Sea Horse by Saxton Freymann & Joost Elffers

Book Genre: Fiction, Counting, Rhyming

Publishing Info: Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic Press (28 pages)

Awards or Honors: IRA Children’s Choice 2001, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Medal

Summary: The story is a fabulous combination of a variety of vegetables and fruits disguised as sea animals. The tale begins with Bea. She is a sad lonely seahorse who is in search of friends. She finds many friends in the ocean. She meets 2 crabs, 3 puffer fish, 4 lobsters, 5 turtles, 6 dolphins, 7 eels, 8 octopus, 9 mackerel, and 10 angelfish. Bea eventually realizes that she is not alone because she is surrounded by many of her sea friends.

Personal Rating & Reasons: ****Great! This is book is just too cute! I love how the vegetables and fruits are manipulated into the sea creatures. My favorite are the banana dolphins and the pineapple turtles. Even the background corals are made of mushrooms, roots, kale, etc. As an adult I find it a fun book to just look at and try to name all the foods. For a child the book teaches counting in a colorful fun way. It also has a lesson that we are not all alone. We have friends where we least expect them.

Reading Level: K-2 (1.8 AR)

Interest Level: ages 4-8 years

Possible Uses: This book could be used across the curriculum in math, writing, art, and science.
Math: In math you could use the book to reinforce counting to 10. It has one to one ratios for each animal. You could also have the children play along with a some, some more game as you read the story. You could use teddy bear counters, m&m's, Skittles, linking cubes, carrot sticks, etc. Another math activity would be to create the children's own counting books. Have them illustrate the animals on each page from 1 to 10.
Writing: You could read the story and then talk to the children about the different types of animals Bea ran into. You and the children could create a Circle Map of the animals or you could create a Flow Map of the story. Later the children could draw and write from the thinking maps their own sentences.
Art: The children could create their own animals from fruit or vegetables. You could work in small groups and have the children create the animals with the foods and toothpicks. The children could draw an animal that the teacher has created from fruits or vegetables. You could even do some potato or lettuce art with paints.
Science: This book would be a great way to introduce sea creatures in science and how they interact with other animals and their environment. You could also use this book to introduce different types of fruits or vegetables to the children. Possilby holding a tasting party of the different food items (making sure no allergies of course).

Potential Problems & Difficulties: None at this time.