By Nancy Woodman

Woodman (illustrator of the Exploring the World series) adopts the vivacious voice of a youngster named Dusty to re-create her own experience on the ocean floor. With contagious enthusiasm and a you-are-there immediacy, Dusty describes the journey in a mini-submarine down to a volcanic basin, 6700 feet below the surface of the Sea of Cortez, located between the Baja Peninsula and Mexico. By creating her pages digitally, the author gives the volume the feel of a scrapbook, comprised of childlike drawings, photographs, extended captions, and hand-drawn maps. Woodman concisely and comprehensibly explains such concepts as hydrothermal vents, chemosynthesis, and bioluminescence. Though the photos of the remarkable, seemingly extraterrestrial "tube worms" and other creatures living on the basin's floor are impressively clear, other photographs (of the crew working inside the ship and of the launching of the sub) are reproduced in a much smaller size, making details difficult to discern. Still, Woodman's sprightly writing style and intriguing glimpses into this underwater panoply of colors and shapes make this an engaging learning experience for young armchair explorers.