THE OCTOPUS

The creators of Coral Reef (1996) use captivating science writing and striking full-color photographs to draw readers into the strange underwater world of the octopus. Cerullo skillfully combines information on the anatomy, habits, and history of the octopus with interviews of contemporary scientists engaged in research on location in Victoria, British Columbia. Her prose is peppered with the odd facts children find so intriguing, e.g., the female octopus lays a string of up to 50,000 eggs and attaches them to a wall of her cave, where she stays to protect them until they hatch and ``eventually starves to death.'' The photos, many taken underwater, extend the text and greatly enhance the book. Those with James Martin's fine Tentacles (1993) on their shelves will still want this one. (glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)