KOBEE MANATEE

A well-traveled manatee guides young readers through an undersea journey in this lively, informational picture book.

Always up for exciting aquatic adventures, wise Kobee Manatee and his friends, Pablo the hermit crab and Tess the seahorse, leave the Cayman Islands for a roughly 500-mile swim to the Belize Barrier Reef. Their destination: the Seagrass Café, run by Kobee’s cousin, who needs help cleaning up plastic litter before she can host her guests. Off the coast of Belize, too, is the must-see Great Blue Hole, which Kobee tells his friends is “one of the most amazing places on Earth”; one of many “Kobee’s Fun Facts”—short, clearly written text boxes sprinkled liberally throughout the book—informs readers that “The Great Blue Hole is so deep that sunlight cannot reach its depths, and plants and plankton can’t survive.” Some other facts aren’t exactly “fun,” in that they observe the alarming issue of damage to ocean life due to climate change and massive dumping of plastics and other toxic waste. However, they do reflect careful research and also offer information for kids and families, such as a list of ocean-conservation organizations. These encapsulated asides give weight to the charm of Thayer’s storytelling and the colorful, cartoon-style characters courtesy of illustrator Gallegos; Kobee sports a purple cap and yellow vest, Tess has glamorous pink hair, and the depiction of life in the ocean effectively draws on both fact and fantasy. Fueled by themes of friendship, cooperation, and compassion, the trio’s eventful journey also doesn’t lack for excitement, either: Pablo uses his claws to free a sea turtle from bindings of plastic, the friends are nearly stung by a Portuguese man-of-war, and Kobee rescues Tess from a scorpionfish.

A well-crafted, thoughtful, and well-illustrated addition to a noteworthy educational book series.