In which the villainous Gropmund Grouper devises a dastardly scheme to rob the innocent folk of Reeftown of their homes and money, but is foiled by the efforts of the intrepid Pearl Trout, her fiery brother, Finneus, and brave Corporal Bert of the Soldiercrab Army.
Graeme Base, who created Abrams' best-selling Animalia and The Eleventh Hour, now offers The Sign of the Seahorse, a sweeping drama of intrigue and excitement set in the beautiful but fragile underwater world of a coral reef. Beginning at the famous Seahorse Cafe, social hub of the Old Reef, The Sign of the Seahorse takes us on a great journey. We travel from the doomed coral gardens of Reeftown to a sunken wreck and an underwater junkyard, across the barren expanse of the Withered Plain, and into the vast, uncharted chasms of the Deep, before arriving finally at the utmost edge of the Great Continental Shelf.
Readers of all ages will delight in the rhyming text and gloriously detailed illustrations of this undersea adventure. The wonderfully drawn characters will capture the imagination as The Sign of the Seahorse is enjoyed again and again.
Reviews
Graeme Base's "witty rhymes (and) dynamic, radiantly colored illustrations...should keep both reader and audience immensely entertained" (Publishers Weekly). "Base will surely delight his many fans with this latest high-color, high-action, high-density composition...(with) a high-minded ecological message". -- School Library Journal
"As the curtain rises on this Gilbert and Sullivan-like coral reef tale, the beautiful Pearl Trout (``cheerful, quick and bright'') and dashing Corporal Bert of the Soldiercrabs (``a clipped mustache, two eyes, eight boots, one glove'') are falling in love. But the amorous pair must part, as Bert and the Crab Army leave Reeftown to investigate the source of the pollution that is poisoning the area. The problem lies with the nefarious real estate schemes of the Grouper and his henchfish; ultimately, justice is meted out and the lovers are happily reunited. In Base's exemplary verse, perfect scansion and witty rhymes (``the legal licensee'' paired with ``a dollar ninety-three'') blend to create a comic saga of Brobdingnagian proportions. Likewise, the dynamic, radiantly colored illustrations are jam-packed with droll underwater details--all that's missing in this merry marine metropolis is the Little Mermaid. Despite the book's evident craft, however, youngsters may have difficulty here: the tale is lengthy for a picture-book audience, and the artwork's largesse might prove overwhelming. The verse makes splendid read-aloud material, however; nightly recitations of the various scenes should keep both reader and audience immensely entertained. All ages." Publishers Weekly
