GOOD EATING: The (Short) Life of Krill-- Cybils Awards Nonfiction Finalist- Elementary Category!

CYBILS AWARDS Finalist Feature:

The announcements have been made, and I'm thrilled with our  selections. I reviewed one of those finalists in middle grade category (which also happens to be a picture book) in a recent post, HERE. Now it's time to celebrate and congratulate one of the elementary finalists.

 Krill. It's likely everyone understands that word as an important food source in sea life. Even young learners of food chains know the word. I certainly did, but until this book I never gave KRILL a second thought, other than longing to keep ocean climates habitable for them and all their dependent species.

But this book... blew me away. The author has managed to make the life cycles and patterns of krill absolutely fascinating. And this is only one species of krill, essential and ubiquitous in the Southern Ocean.

Tilbury House Publishers, 2022

GOOD EATING: The (SHORT) Life of Krill is written by Matt Lilley and illustrated by Dan Travis. (Take a look at that amazing cover with every hungry eye in the Southern Ocean aimed at a quick meal!)

Ask most kids (and older) about krill, and they’ll say krill are a food source for whales. That produces a quick topic switch to whales, because whales are WAY more fun to talk about, right? I’d have agreed, until this book came along. From a surprisingly dramatic “egg” opening through all stages (scientifically labeled near each kid-friendly image), to multiple phases and adulthood, the shifts of location, perspective, and danger add interest and tension. Occasional clever puns are finessed into the brief and informative text. 

Readers (krill) are schooled (See? Pun!) in their importance as a keystone species, one that is constantly eatin’ while avoiding being eaten!  If you also know that krill swim in massive schools, you’ll appreciate how both the author and illustrator managed to convey those huge populations while allowing a single specific krill to somehow be distinguished from the others. That one's the intended “you” in the narrative. Visually, that’s accomplished through placement on the page (during early life cycle stages) and using riveting eyes and a distinctive green belly, a krill consequence of eating so much chlorophyll-rich phytoplankton. 

The author addresses the reader as if they are this krill, the good-eater, green-bellied, eye-focused one. Each page holds remarkable, memorable facts about krill in brief, light text. A did-you-know quality abounds, such as adult krill: have 26 legs, molt (shed their shells) throughout life, look like bugs or shrimp but are neither, and (get this) can live up to TEN YEARS, if not eaten first! Backmatter adds even more fun facts, with readability to match the main text, including resources. 

This is accessible to young learners and also suited (invaluable!) to those further along in learning about biology, ecology, species variety, and the roles of anchor species to sustain entire food chains. Back matter is remarkably complex while still light-hearted and lively.

Congratulations to this and the other fantastic book in this category!! I personally recommend ALL of them!