Little Monsters of the Ocean

Metamorphosis under the Waves

  • Interest Level: Grade 4 - Grade 8
  • Reading Level: Grade 4

Bizarre creatures are floating around in our oceans—squishy, slimy, spiky-headed monsters. And they’re not even grown up yet! These kids have to go through some drastic changes before they get to be adults.

Everyone knows that caterpillars and tadpoles go through metamorphosis, but so do some of the most monstrous creatures under the sea.

Take the spiky-headed zoea, somersaulting through the water on her way to becoming a blue crab. Or the gnathiid larva that sucks the fluid right out of a fish’s eyeball through his needle-like mouth. That is, until he’s full enough to become an adult that doesn’t eat anything. Or the moon jellyfish that starts off as a small, orange blob and eventually plants itself on the seafloor and produces not one but many adult jellyfish.

Dive deep with these little monsters of the ocean to follow along as they go through drastic changes on their way to growing up.

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Interest Level Grade 4 - Grade 8
Reading Level Grade 4
Genre Science
Category 5 Kinds of Nonfiction, 5KN: Expository Literature, Animals
Copyright 2019
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Millbrook Press ™
Language English
Number of Pages 56
Publication Date 2019-01-01
Text Type Informational/Explanatory
BISACS JNF003150, JNF051050, JNF037070
Dewey 591.77
Graphics Full-color illustrations
Dimensions 8 x 10
Lexile 850
Guided Reading Level V
ATOS Reading Level 5.8
Accelerated Reader® Quiz 501417
Accelerated Reader® Points 2.0
Features Author/Illustrator note, Awards, Bibliography/further reading, Glossary, Index, and Reviewed

Author: Heather L. Montgomery

Heather L. Montgomery writes for kids who are wild about animals. An award-winning educator, Heather uses yuck appeal to engage young minds. She has a BS in biology and an MS in environmental education and has published numerous science books, including 2019 Orbis Pictus Recommended Book Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill and 2022 Orbis Pictus Recommended Book What's in Your Pocket? Inquiry is her life.

Awards

  • Dogwood Book List for Nonfiction, Winner, 2020

Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

“A lively presentation of an unusual subject, a hidden and little-known part of our natural world.”—Kirkus Reviews