One Night in the Coral Sea - Softcover

Sneed B. Collard III has been a biologist and a computer scientist. He's put his knowledge and experience to use by writing more than thirty children's books, including MANY BIOMES, ONE EARTH; BEAKS; and TEETH. He began writing after graduating with honors in marine biology from the University of California at Berkeley. After earning his master’s in scientific instrumentation at the University of California at Santa Barbara, he continued to hone his craft while serving as a computer consultant for biologists. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

Grade 3-6–Although Collard provides a basic introduction to other animals found on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, he concentrates on its variety of corals. In particular, he describes the mass spawning that occurs every spring. On one night, more than 100 species release millions of eggs and trillions of sperm. By morning, those coral from the same species have united to form thousands of larvae that drift on the ocean. Those that escape predators and reach a reef attach themselves and undergo a metamorphosis into a coral polyp. Brickman created colorful three-dimensional illustrations by painting and sculpting paper, and these layered textures work well with the subject. For example, hungry fish trying to eat larvae can barely be seen through the multicolored masses of tiny creatures floating around and over them. Although limited information about mass spawning appears in some books for older readers such as Collard's Lizard Island (Watts, 2000), most titles for younger readers about coral reefs provide a basic, general introduction to the ecosystem. Dorothy Hinshaw Patent's general overview in Colorful Captivating Coral Reefs (Walker, 2003) would work well with Collard's introduction to an amazing event that scientists discovered little more than 20 years ago.–Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
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