Squidtoons

If the cover and title of Squidtoons doesn't demand attention, the idea of exploring and learning about ocean science with comics should.  What a clever way to merge science, reading, and engagement- leading to new learning and the deepening of ocean knowledge. From the fluent funny and informative text and illustrations, to the talking bubbles discourse between three species of seadragons, to the pages with comics in panels, this book offers a lot to admire. The pages are filled with fictional action snapshots that reveal interesting facts about ocean life and the creatures that inhabit it. This book has a wide age appeal and is the ultimate example of the possibilities of a STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, Math) mindset towards teaching. This belongs as a mentor text in science classrooms, grade kindergarten through high school. In kindergarten writers learn about talking bubbles. After learning about a seadragon or a horseshoe crab, I could see writers drawing the animal and adding words to a talking bubble. Comics and graphic novels are fantastic portals to new schema, enhancing the readers abilities as a writer, and deepening their reading comprehension strategies between every page and panel, and effective non fiction access feature (table of contents, bold words, diagrams, labels). This will appeal to many of learners, and I highly recommend it for classroom and library shelves.