Make a Splash!: A Kid’s Guide to Protecting Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands
Written by Cathryn Berger Kaye and Philippe Cousteau
Do you know a student who really wants to be a marine biologist? Make a Splash is the perfect book for him/her! This book is loaded with information about one of our planet’s most important resource: water.
World-renowned ocean explorer Captain Jaques-Yves Cousteau’s grandson, Phillipe, teamed up with Cathryn Berger Kaye to show the majesty of water, but also how abused it is. The photography in this book makes it a great book to flip through for a casual read, but the captions and text are incredibly informative. The authors have given visual cues to indicate what kind of information is on each page: whether a definition in a caption bubble, fluid fact and figures, or information about how critical it is for each person to play a part in protecting water. Also, sprinkled throughout this book are anecdotes about students who researched various aspects of protecting water and its inhabitants. It is up to the individual reader to choose how to use this book; it is not meant to be read aloud from front to back, but a teacher could certainly read excerpts aloud during a unit on water.
Though this book is on a fourth or fifth grade reading level, if taken from cover to cover, the ideas within this book are for any aged learner. It should be used to inspire readers about how they can make a difference in this planet’s care, no matter how young. There are simple ideas about how even first grade students can be water-wise by using reusable water bottles. It would be excellent for an elementary with a buddy system between first graders and fifth graders to take an idea and implement a plan to encourage water protection within the walls of the school or beyond!
Before starting a unit on water conservation, students should watch the YouTube video of Cathryn Berger Kaye and Philippe Cousteau http://youtu.be/jhDhSL2ZeDg. Their excitement is contagious and can inspire students to make great changes! Make a Splash is an excellent book to include in a class or home library as a resource for any learner.
Sometimes to inspire great change, it just takes making students aware, and Make a Splash certainly inspires students to be difference makers!
Title: Make a Splash- Authors: Cathryn Berger Kaye and Philippe Cousteau
- Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing
- Reviewer: Sharon Schulte
- Hardback, 124 pages
- ISBN: 978-1-57542-417-0
- Genre: non-fiction/conservation
- Lexile: 910
