Beasts from the Deep

Beautifully presented, ‘Beasts from the Deep’ offers a fascinating and absorbing look at the mysterious creatures which inhabit the depths of the ocean.

The introduction carefully explains that there is much that is unknown about the deep sea, ‘a vast environment that despite near-freezing temperatures, crushing water pressure and total darkness’ is home to many creatures which have adapted to live there. From here, the author goes on to explain the ocean’s layers from the sunlight zone through the Twilight, Midnight and Abyssal Zones down to the Hadal Zone. The illustration here is quite something with the sparsely populated, inky-black Hadal Zone still managing to hint at the mysteries it might hold!

Starting with the Twilight Zone, the book then explores each layer in more detail, looking at some of the creatures which live there and how they have adapted to survive in their environment, making it a fascinating text to support the Y6 work on evolution and inheritance in science. The fangtooth, for example, which inhabits the Midnight Zone, has evolved to have a large mouth lined with really long teeth whilst Atolla jellyfish are perfectly adapted to live at this level.

On each page, the text is presented in small chunks, offering plenty of information, using subject specific vocabulary (a comprehensive glossary is included at the end of the book), encouraging the reader to develop their understanding of this fascinating environment and the ‘beasts’ which live there. I learned so much from reading this!

Beasts from the Deep

Matt Ralphs, illustrated by Kaley McKean

Nosy Crow with the University of Cambridge ISBN: 978-1839943348

Published 6th June

Originally reviewed for Reading Zone.