The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reefs by Kate Messner, illustrated by Matthew Forsythe

When Ken Nedimeyer was a boy, his father's job at NASA meant living in Florida, and, for Ken, that meant exploring the ocean.

Influenced by underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau, Ken learned how to scuba dive and as he swam around the ocean, observing the world of fish and sea stars, he also began noticing the beautiful coral reefs in the Florida Keys.

Made up of countless tiny sea creatures, Ken found them to be just beautiful, and wanted to know everything about them - how the reefs grew so large, why they were different colors and shapes.

But, one hot summer, Ken noticed that the reefs were beginning to lose their color, and the sea urchins, who made sure algae did overtake the coral reefs, were beginning to die, and consequently, so were the massive coral reefs. But Ken just didn't know what to do for the dying reefs.

'The reefs of the Florida Keys teemed with life."

As an adult, Ken operated a rock farm in the Florida Keys, growing rocks full of sea life to help keep the ocean water safe and healthy for the other forms of sea life. One day, a coral colony spawned and attached itself to one of Ken's rock on his farm. And it grew! So Ken and his daughter began attaching corals onto other rocks and they also grew.

If you could grow corals on rocks, Ken wondered, could you transplant them onto a dying reef? Ken decided to test out this theory. Ken founded a group called the Coral Restoration Foundation, staffed by volunteers. As the corals grew, the volunteers transplanted these coral colonies, attaching them (with glue) in places on the reefs where they hoped the corals would take hold and flourish.

Did the transplanted corals survive? Yes, they did and now Ken's group travels around the world, teaching others how to grow and transplant healthy corals in order to save their dying corals.

Messner begins and ends the The Brilliant Deep with one tiny coral spawn and how it can grow into a new colony. And what feels to be a simple story in between is in actuality a wonderful lesson about ocean life. Readers learns how coral reefs are formed, why they are important to the not just the ocean's environment, but also to ours, and that sometimes, it takes just one person with an idea to make a difference.

The Brilliant Deep has been a favorite of my young readers right from the beginning. Not only is it interesting and informative, it is also quite beautifully illustrated. Forsythe's colorful, batik-style, gouache and watercolor washed illustrations are done in a watery pastel palette of mainly blues, greens. and sunny yellows give the perfect effect needed for a book about the ocean and its colorful reefs.

"It starts with one."

Messner cleverly brings the story of coral reefs and the story of Ken Nedimeyer full circle with to a satisfying ending that connects them back to the beginning of the book - spawns to coral reefs, a young boy to the man he became. She also includes more information about coral reefs in the back matter, including ways kids can help, online ways to explore attempts to save the coral reefs, and vocabulary words used through the book.

This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Chronicle Books