The
Monarch Award:
Illinois'
K-3 Children's Choice Award
2009 Master List
Sponsored by
the
Illinois
School Library Media Association
2009 Nominee: Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the SeaThis book describes the life of the Barbour seahorses including how they protect themselves against predators, how they mate, their physical characteristics, and their unique behaviors.
Author: Chris Butterworth (Christine)
Illustrator: John Lawrence
Book
Activities
- Discussion questions: What do you know about seahorses? What
predators would a seahorse fear?
- Language arts: Discuss the title of the book and how it
fits the behavior of the seahorse.Read Surprising Sharks and make a Venn diagram
of characteristics.
- Writing: Write an acrostic poem using the word seahorse.
- Math: Use rulers to show the largest and smallest
seahorses.
- Science: Research seahorses and write a paragraph describing three
facts about seahorses. Type the report in a word processing program. Compare actual photos of seahorses to
illustration in the book. What other animals have prehensile tails?
- Social Studies: Map areas of the world where seahorses live.
- Drama: Act out a skit about how a seahorse changes colors
to protect itself.
- Cooking/Food: Bake seahorse cookies and use other food
items to show the different physical characteristics of the fish based
on what the book describes.
- Art: Do a watercolor resist of an under the ocean
scene.
- Music: Play a CD of ocean music while reading or drawing or doing
math.
- Movement: Move like a seahorse, wiggle "wings", curl "tail", hide
in "coral"
Related Books
Secret Seahorse by Stella Blackstone
Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
The Sign of the Seahorse, A Tale of Greed and High Adventure in Two Acts by Graeme Base
Seahorse Reef: A Story of the South Pacific by Sally Walker
Seahorses by Ann Herriges
Animal Dads by Steve Jenkins
Websites
Seahorse coloring page
Seahorse facts from Sea World
Seahorse facts from the Monterey Bay Aquarium
2009 Nominee Resources