Deep Dive

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 7, 2017

Review

The LEGO books have high appeal for young readers. The pages are very busy, with a mix of LEGO figures, facts, tips about building, and photographs. The photographs are beautiful and the "build it" feature is kind of lame and feels like a tacked-on feature that provides a connection to LEGO. A few jarring/incongruous elements of this title: the presence of Neptune in a factual book with no mention of who he is and what part he plays in the stories about oceans. The LEGO "swimmers" added to scenes that would be incredibly dangerous to include swimmers. The write-ups on several pages have words continuing across the gutter or continuing around a feature; this can be confusing to an emerging reader. The presence of a sticker sheet is never an easy one to deal with in a library book. So while this type of book will appeal to your LEGO/ocean lovers, it is not going to be an easy book to navigate for all emerging readers. That being said, any level reader will enjoy the photographs and the facts that are included, and it is worth having these types of titles because it might engage a reader who is drawn to the LEGO logo, but then stays for the words, learning something due to that intersection.

Overall Book Score: good