When we think of strange and scary things, monsters and mythical beasts come to mind, but what about all of the unusual and downright terrifying things that actually live here on Earth? What about all of the strange creatures in the oceans? Rachel Poliquin and Byron Eggenschwiler have once again teamed up for an interactive, riddle filled, non fiction book The Strangest Thing in the Sea exploring some pretty unusual ocean dwellers.

Filled with the most unusual and sometimes downright grotesque creatures living in the oceans, Rachel Poliquin gives readers a riddle, a puzzle to solve to see if they can come up with the name of the creature. Open the flap and readers are treated to everything they did or did not want to know about the animal. Future ocean explorers are provided with full specs of each animal as well as tidbits of information about where in the ocean they live, how they hunt, and what makes them so strange. Most of the animals in the book were new to me and we’ve watched a lot of Octonauts :)

We are suckers for a great map or timeline in a non-fiction picture book and we got one in this book! At the very end we are treated to a side view of the ocean and it’s many different layers, complete with illustrations of each creature and where you might find them in the ocean. Not only do we get to learn about rarely seen animals but we also learn even more about one of the least explored places on earth.

The illustrations by Byron Eggenschwiler are otherworldly! I love how he masterfully creates two separate images for each creature, the actual animal itself and a make believe version that ups the creep factor.

The Strangest Thing in the Sea was published right at the perfect time, just in time for the spooky season. Why not add a little learning to your spooky celebrations?