What underwater wonders can you see when you're in a bright orange submarine? Stealthy manta rays, silky seals, blimpy blowfish--and all sorts of other amazing ocean animals. So pull on your favorite swimsuit and dive into this rhyming young fantasy. Just watch out for the shark!

HONORS & REVIEWS

JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD Selection

CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB Selection

CHILD MAGAZINE featured book

BILL MARTIN JR. PICTURE BOOK AWARD NOMINEE, 2004 (Kansas Reading Assn)

NEVADA YOUNG READER AWARD Finalist, 2004

2007 TEXAS READING CLUB SELECTION

Publishers Weekly

A pint-sized Jacques Cousteau plunges down into the ocean depths in an orange submarine to explore its treasures: "Diving with a silky seal./ Darting by a dancing eel," writes Ashman (Babies on the Go), her couplets set in undulating type. Mack, making an impressive debut, populates his brilliant turquoise backdrops with comically exaggerated critters intrigued by the aquanaut's presence. At the same time, the artist skillfully combines neon-bright colors and intricate textures (like the patterns of brain coral or spines of a puffer fish) to heighten the setting's exotic beauty. When a big blue shark sizes up the sub for a snack (a scene where Mack has great fun with contrasting scale and hues of blue), the boy decides to make a quick exit, bidding farewell to all he's encountered: "Good-bye grass!/ So long, wrasse!/ Flee the jaw!/ Clip the claw!" Some readers may not be surprised by the ending ("Rising quickly in my sub,/ to the safety of my..." accompanies the telltale brightness of the water's surface), but all will appreciate being asked along for this enchanting ride.

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz - Children's Literature

A young boy sets off in his "sub glub glub marine" on a journey under the water. Just a brief rhyme in large type across each double page has him encountering a variety of underwater creatures, from silky seal and dancing eel to a "sleek and speedy shark." Away he rushes then, to the "safety of my tub," after enjoying his imaginary adventure. Mack's playful paintings of these creatures fill his underwater scenes with attractive but sometimes anxiety-provoking adventure. The orange submarine is shown close up to octopus arms, then gets mixed up with a manta ray before the shark. But the artist's fuzzy acrylics are not so realistic as to spoil the adventurous fun. 

School Library Journal

PreS-K-A boy in a submarine sinks below the surface to face an array of colorful sea creatures: "Peering through/a kelpy haze/at rainbow fish/and manta rays./Waving to a/whiskered shrimp./Floating by a/blowfish-blimp." All is well until he comes upon a shark. Then, he immediately bids adieu to the animals he has encountered, and the vessel surfaces safely-in the tub. Acrylic spreads show a teeming, cartoonlike undersea world in vibrant turquoise. This imaginative bath-time book excels at blending story and pictures.-Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CA

BookList

K-Gr. 2. Wandering through Mack's brightly hued marine scenes and wavy currents of words, Ashman's bubbly verses track the observations of a young explorer in an orange submarine, as he goes “waving to a whiskered shrimp / Floating by a blowfish-blimp,” and the like, on the way to a face-to-face encounter with a “sleek and speedy . . . SHARK!!!” that sends him zooming back to the surface--of his well-stocked tub. Replete with rhyming words and cartoony but recognizable sea creatures, this cheery voyage, a debut for illustrator Mack, makes exuberant reading aloud, both pre- and post-bath time. JohnPeters.

Kirkus Reviews

A little boy’s imaginary underwater submarine adventure in short, descriptive verse. Diving deeper and deeper, the boy encounters a bright, amazingly colorful ocean full of traditional and different sea life, all the while defining the unique features of each creature. "Diving with a silky seal / Darting by a dancing eel / Peering through a kelpy haze / at rainbow fish and manta rays." Ashman includes new words and exotic fish: "Skimming over sneaky dabs / Hiding from the horseshoe crabs" and "Gliding through the wavy grass, / glimpse a busy cleaner wrasse." When our explorer approaches danger by the confrontation of a shark, he reverses his sub and speedily returns through his previous subaqueous route, safely surfacing the waters of his toy-filled bathtub. Poetic text is lively with enough alliteration to encourage repeated recitation. Acrylic paintings in large, aquatic blues and greens accompany the multicolored animated sea creatures surrounding the youngster’s orange submarine. An amusing and equally enlightening companion to Ashman’s previous Castles, Caves, and Honeycombs