Celebrate National Ocean Month in June by first reading these fabulous books chock full of exciting stories and ocean facts about everything ocean from the mariana trench to the great barrier reef. The unexplored depths of the oceans that posses over 90% of our world’s living space will quickly draw you and your family into a world of mystery beyond your wildest imaginations.
Next, you may want to use some of these ocean facts as spring boards for further research:
- Many mysterious species of marine life fill the world’s oceans;
- Five oceans – the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Arctic Ocean, Southern Ocean, and the Indian Ocean – cover 70% of our earth’s surface;
- Either coral reefs or the deep sea are home to 28 to 35 percent of the animal phyla on earth;
- Scientists have reasonably explored only about 550 feet (about the height of the Washington Monument) below the ocean. Yet, the average depth of the the planet’s oceans is 13,120 feet!!!
Finally, I’ve included a couple of videos that you may enjoy using to supplement the stories you’re reading with a few more ocean facts!
I highly recommend that you share one or more of these books about the ocean with your family and open up a whole new world of interest and exploration! (And maybe you’ll get a beach vacation out of it!)
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Here’s a great introduction to learning about our ocean waters:
Ocean Books The Whole Family Will Love
These books about the earth’s oceans will hopefully become classics for your family to enjoy over and over again. In these books, you will find great nuggets like the fact that 70 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water!
But I chose to share each of these books with you first and foremost because they tell terrific stories that will capture your hearts and minds. Enjoy!
Every time Finn looks out his window, he remembers the stories his grandfather told him about the place where the ocean meets the sky. Where whales and jellyfish soar and birds and castles float.
Finn’s grandfather is gone now but Finn knows the perfect way to honor him. He’ll build his own ship and sail out to find this magical place himself!
Riptide may be an unusual name for a dog, but it is one that suits this one well. The salty ocean breeze, and the crash of the waves draw Rip in. He simply cannot be discouraged even in the summer when he is forbidden to follow his instincts and race along the coast. “No Dogs on Nauset Beach!” the sign reads. The guards protest and call for his owner Zach to come retrieve him daily. Yet Rip will not be deterred, and it is lucky that he is not. The guards desperately need Rip to help with a rescue after an awful storm.
This book is so beautiful – it’s a great read aloud for any age! Reading to big kids is great for starting fun juicy conversations!
Although taking the dory out solo is strictly forbidden, the calm waters of the bay entice Danny in. And that’s where the adventure begins. He thinks rowing into a school of bluefish is trouble enough, but wait until the whales enter the picture. Danny encounters one sea creature after another and learns about the ocean food chain in the process. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen next, the story takes an unexpected twist.
Crafted to resonate with all ages, Umijoo is the tale of a curious girl who, with the help of a little magic, journeys underwater to learn about the dangers facing our ocean directly from the creatures that call it home. A story of love, responsibility, and balance, Umijoo provides ocean facts to educate and inspire a new generation of ocean defenders.
Umijoo
A lyrical and timeless picture book about hope, change and the passing of time.Ocean Books That Are Fabulous To Read Aloud
Our Favorite Books To Read Aloud
As a homeschool family, my favorite time of our day is when I’m reading aloud. You’ll have a tough time finding anything to develop your child’s language arts skills any better than reading aloud!
The earliest of the language arts skills to develop is our listening skills. If you want your kids to develop stronger listening skills, read aloud to them!
If you want to begin nurturing a reading habit for your own family, here are some terrific tips to get started. Even easier – start with one of these terrific tales loaded with adventure and ocean facts!
On the highest rock of a tiny island at the edge of the world stands a lighthouse. From dusk to dawn, the lighthouse beams, sending its light out to sea, guiding the ships on their way. As the seasons pass and the waves rise and fall, outside, the wind blows; inside, the lighthouse keeper writes, and the rhythms of his life unfold. But change is on the horizon…
Gregory draws a lion in the sand. “Don’t go in the water, and don’t leave Sandy,” warns Dad.
But the sandy lion grows a tail that gets longer and longer—and soon Gregory gets lost on the beach!
Three bear siblings break their mother’s favorite blue seashell. Rather than tell her, they decide to set out in their sailboat to find her a new one. On their quest they encounter salty sailors, strange new islands, huge whales, and vast seas but no blue seashells. A treacherous storm suddenly blows in and tosses the three bears about in their little boat, far from Mama. What will become of their search, and what will it take to bring them safely home?
Romance, mystery and intrigue revolve around the Seahorse Cafe, where the beautiful Pearl Trout falls in love with Corporal Bert the Soldiercrab. But Reeftown is in danger, and soon Pearl, Bert, and Pearl’s brother Finneus must journey through the ocean depths to find the source of the deadly poison that is destroying the coral reef.
The Sign of the Seahorse: A Tale of Greed and High Adventure in Two Acts (Picture Puffins)
On this day, a boy and his mother imagine what it would be like to spend a day at the seashore. Hunting for seashells and building sandcastles, this tribute to the power of imagination and the tenderness of a mother-child connection is also a sweet ode to summer’s greatest pastimes. Perfect for story time or a wonderful, relaxing bedtime story.
Eva Padlyat lived in an Inuit village on Ungava Vat in northern Canada. In winter, when people wanted mussels to eat, they searched along the bottom of the seabed. Eva had often walked on the bottom, helping her mother. But today – for the very first time – she was to go down below the thick sea ice herself!
An old man tells the lighthouse boy about a successful sea captain who had made his fortune hunting whales, until their song entered his heart.
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