Shockers of the Sea - Softcover

Caroline Arnold grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and spent her summers at a small camp in northern Wisconsin. It was there that she developed her love of animals and the outdoors, delighting in catching sight of deer leaping through the underbrush or a porcupine scrambling up a pine tree.

Caroline began writing children's books nearly twenty years ago when her own two children were small. After receiving her MA in art from the University of Iowa, Caroline planned on writing and illustrating her own books, but these days most of her books are illustrated with photographs. She now uses her keen sense of observation to learn about her subjects and pass along her close-up views to children.

"My hope is that if kids fall in love with the animals in my books, as I do when I write about them, they will be concerned for the animals' future and want to do what they can to protect the animals and the places where they live."

Books by Caroline Arnold include Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machines, Shockers of the Sea, African Animals (Morrow Junior books), Dinosaur Mountain (Clarion Books), which was named an ALA Notable Book.

In addition to writing, Caroline spends much of her time reading, gardening, and traveling. She visits many elementary schools telling children about her books and encouraging them to read and write. Caroline also teaches part-time in the Writers' Program at UCLA Extension School.

Caroline lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Arthur.

Caroline is the recipient of the Washington Post Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award in 2005.

Grade 3-5-A handsome introduction to a variety of unusual creatures that use electricity in unexpected ways: to locate, stun, and capture prey; in electrolocation; to communicate; or to sense the world about them. The simple, readable text is accompanied by strong, somber oil paintings that mirror the often murky waters these "electricians" inhabit, showing eels and catfish, knife fish, stargazers, rays, skates, and others in their marine and freshwater worlds. Information boxes provide snippets of data on such topics as electrocommunication, Volta's battery, and the use of electric rays for medicinal purposes in ancient Greece. This is a fascinating initiation to an exceptional collection of animals. Team it with Sandra Markle's equally intriguing Down, Down, Down in the Ocean (Walker, 1999) for an engrossing window into an obscure world.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.