On The Reef

A tale of adventure and discovery on a coral reef.

Though best remembered for her novels The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton's 1912 novel The Reef ranks among her most critically acclaimed works. The book offers a piercingly insightful look into a complicated family dynamic that stems from the intertwined relationships of several generations of star-crossed lovers.

During an ordinary visit to the library, a girl pulls a not-so-ordinary book from the shelves. As she turns the pages in this book about coral reefs, the city around her slips away and she finds herself surrounded by the coral cities of the sea and the mysterious plants and animals that live, hunt, and hide there. Chin's approach makes this book a must-have common core tool for teachers and librarians introducing scientific principals to young students.

Takes children to the underwater world of Australia's Great Barrier Reef for a prime example of how a complex ecosystem depends on its keystone species. Sharon Wismer—reef ecologist and mom—is the best tour guide a kid could have for a visit to the underwater world of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Alice Wong’s richly detailed, accurate watercolors take a boy and girl snorkeling to see the fishes that maintain the ecological balance between the corals and their main competitor, algae. Without the fish species that brush, crop, scrape, excavate, and browse the algae, coral reefs would die. A coral reef is a brilliant and colorful example of how a complex ecosystem functions and why its keystone species are critical to its health. The Great Barrier Reef is one of Earth’s most celebrated natural treasures. Here children discover why the reef is threatened and what we can all do to help protect it. Endorsements are coming from Charlie Veron (“the godfather of coral,” featured in the 2017 film Chasing Coral) and David Bellwood, a world-renowned reef fish ecologist whose lab is the source of much of the information in this book. Keepers of Reef is the rare children’s book combining cutting-edge science with narrative and pictorial magic. Thorough backmatter sources and resources are included.

Like many coral specialists fifteen years ago, J. E. N. Veron thought Australia's Great Barrier Reef was impervious to climate change. "Owned by a prosperous country and accorded the protection it deserves, it would surely not go the way of the Amazon rain forest or the parklands of Africa, but would endure forever. That is what I thought once, but I think it no longer." This book is Veron's Silent Spring for the world's coral reefs. Veron presents the geological history of the reef, the biology of coral reef ecosystems, and a primer on what we know about climate change. He concludes that the Great Barrier Reef and, indeed, most coral reefs will be dead from mass bleaching and irreversible acidification within the coming century unless greenhouse gas emissions are curbed. If we don't have the political will to confront the plight of the world's reefs, he argues, current processes already in motion will become unstoppable, bringing on a mass extinction the world has not seen for 65 million years. Our species has cracked its own genetic code and sent representatives of its kind to the moon--we can certainly save the world's reefs if we want to. But to achieve this goal, we must devote scientific expertise and political muscle to the development of green technologies that will dramatically reduce greenhouse emissions and reverse acidification of the oceans.

Twelve-year-old Jasmine Lopez loves exploring the coral reefs around Fiji where her marine biologist parents are stationed, and though young, she is already a certified scuba diver, a fact that her ten-year-old brother Arjun seems to resent; in fact he seems to believe he already knows everything about diving, and certainly does not want help from his older sister--until his overconfidence and defiance leads them both into a confrontation with a reef shark.

Learning becomes fun with this book about the animals of the ocean! In Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef, amazing artwork will inspire kids in classrooms and at home to appreciate the beauty and biology of coral reefs and world around us! Brilliant artwork is the star of this oceanic counting book, based on the classic children's song "Over in the Meadow". Kids will sing, clap, and count their way among pufferfish that "puff," gruntfish that "grunt" and seahorses that "flutter," and begin to appreciate the animals in the ocean. And the clay art will inspire many a project. Parents, teachers, giftgivers, and many others will find: captivating illustrations of sculptures fashioned from polymer clay. backmatter that includes further information about the coral reef and the animals of the ocean. music and song lyrics to "Over in the Ocean" sung to the tune "Over in the Meadow"! a book for young readers learning to count!

This 2002 book provides a cultural and ecological history of European impact on the Great Barrier Reef.