Around these parts, we live and breathe sea animals. So when I discovered the SeaWorld Library (our dream vacation someday!) from Ideals Books, well, I was all about exploring them! There are eight books in this magnificent little series and my three year old has devoured the three that we’ve read.
Mostly, we’re in to whales and octopuses so we checked out the first book in this SeaWorld series first, Baby Whale which features a killer whale. Each book consists of around twelve full page spreads. The sentences on each spread are simple and not too complex, providing scientific information about the animal in a storybook fashion. There is about a paragraph of information per spread and a combination of full-colored illustrations and photographs of the animal being highlighted. Each book in the series begins by introducing the new sea animal baby which has just entered the world. The books tell a little about the mommy, daddy and information on the baby itself. You watch the baby grow a little throughout the book, from birth until it is a few months old.
The second book from the series which we read (also about whales) is book #6, Baby Beluga. In this one we learned that the Beluga grows its teeth when it is a few months old. Still, it swallows its food whole. We didn’t know that before reading this series so we added it to our repertoire of Whale Facts We Randomly Tell Strangers on the Street About. Those of you with small aged children have no doubt also heard the Baby Beluga song which is fun to sing before, after, and even during the reading of this specific book.
Although these are board books, because of the information included about the whales, I would say that these are better for toddlers than babies. That said, the bright photographs and pictures, and sturdiness of the books themselves, make this a great set of books to grow up and into. You can see a complete listing of the eight books in this series by visiting Ideals Books.
My three and a half year old son dove into these (har, har) when they arrived in our mailbox and enjoyed them thoroughly. (If they had an Baby Octopus in this series, he would give it a 5 star rating. Since they don’t, we’ll hold back 1/2 a star.) He’s so into ocean animals that he devours anything with sea creatures on it and gave each photograph careful study, noting the position of the whales and their tendencies. (His obsession has grown so much that even I began dreaming about whales and octopuses at night. True story! One night I dreamed that the world was going to be overrun by plankton that I was swimming in because there were not enough baleen whales left to eat them all! Last night there was a kid running around in my dream wearing an octopus suit with “tickle-y tentacles” as we say around here. It’s getting too much!) But despite how far down I’ve gone on the dreaming scale, I still think of this book series is a young SeaWorld lovin’ child’s dream come true!
Now, if you would like to bless the little person in your life with some of these books, you can feel free to leave a comment below in hopes of winning a few titles to get you started! Ideals Books has offered to give the first three books in the series away to one of our readers. This includes: Baby Whale, Baby Penguin, and Baby Sea Otter. U.S. Residents only. We will announce the winners on March 3 in our giveaway post.
Thank you, Ideals Books for your generosity! Again, if you’d like to see a complete list of the titles in the SeaWorld library, CLICK HERE.
Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know and Reading My Library.
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Kirsten T. says
We bought Baby Whale when my almost three year old turned 16 months. It was one of her favorites then, and she still loves to have me read it to her now (although she has it memorized, so she often “reads” it to me). Definitely would like to read others in the series. Thanks!
Amy from Occupation: Mommy says
We have “Baby Zebra” from the similar San Diego Zoo series, and my 2 1/2 year old loves it. I’m sure she would love these, too!
Annette W says
These look very good! We love animals of all sorts!
Stephanie's Mommy Brain says
Well, you know we are into animals and sea creatures around here, too! We’d love to add these to our collection!!
Vicki says
I’d love to win this for the little one in my life!
Steph says
My daughter loves animals and would really enjoy these books, especially Baby Penguin.
Beth C says
We love sea animals. These books look like great ones! Thanks.
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net
Carolyn says
Oh, we would love these! Both of my kids would devour them!
www.fromdiaperstodorms.com says
Our little ones would love these. Thanks for the chance to win.
Marci says
Sounds wonderful–you have great giveaways!
Heather (Page Turner) says
These would be a great addition to our home library! Please enter me.
Cheryl Bradley says
My daughter would love these! She adores books & animals & would eat these right up!
Carol M says
My little grandsons would love these books! Thank you for the giveaway!
Brenda Rupp says
I have great nieces and nephews 7 of them and I know they would love the books!
Marj McClendon says
I have a soon to come great granddaughter. What remarkable teaching tools these books are. Babies love books about babies.
Jody says
I know several little ones who’d love the books.
Some Lucky Dog says
We love animal books! Thanks for the chance to win, these look like beautiful books.
Jen N says
My little ones and I would love these books- Thank you!
Michele Anne Jaquays says
Hey, shounds neat…have nieces and nejphews
who would like this…sign me up
Sky says
We would love these books!
Adele says
My little grandson has a birthday coming up and would love these books.