Washed Ashore will captivate readers from the moment they spy the giant shark made of ocean plastic on the cover. Kelly Crull does an excellent job of showcasing the washed Ashore organization created by Angela Haseltine Pozzi to educate on the perils of plastic in the ocean. Each sculpture photo is accompanied by information on the animal, an I-Spy element and a practical suggestion to help reduce plastic. Animals include a sea dragon, rockhopper penguin, leatherback sea turtle and several more. The book contains ideas for a scavenger hunt, photos of building the sculptures encouraging readers to make their own and explains where plastic bottles go along with a glossary, bibliography and websites. This book is phenomenal and should be in every kind of library. ( )

children's nonfiction, science and art for environmentally-minded kids

38 pages, hours of fun -- I picked this up on a whim but I think kids will really love poring over a print version of the book. Each spread depicts an amazing work of art sculpture (made from polluting trash collected from the sea), interesting facts about the sea animal depicted in the sculpture, an easy tip that kids can use to be more eco-conscious, AND several trash objects they can search for within the photographed art. A genius concept if I ever saw one. My only concern is that the words are sometimes printed in a light color text against a light background--not the easiest to read for people with vision issues or dyslexia. The gutter (center binding area) and photo stitching is also noticeably sloppy in the "Nora the Salmon" spread (pp 18-19 of the ebook).

Backmatter includes:
- a suggested worksheet for planning your own trash-pickup event with friends (no tips on "staying safe" however)
- behind the scenes--how Angela creates her sculptures (sorting, cleaning, building a metal frame to stick everything to). Plus, an easier way for kids to try their own hand at making art from trash.
- Where do plastic bottles go? flowchart/infograph
- glossary of terms
-further reading - suggested bibliography and webliography ( )

This excellent book combines environmental and climate activism with art, in service of our planet's oceans and ocean creatures.

The one-page introduction explains the damage that plastic in the oceans causes to the fish and animals who live there, and how Angela Haseltine Pozzi noticed trash washing up on the beach in Oregon and started the organization Washed Ashore.

All of the following page spreads include a large photograph of a sculpture made from ocean plastic - parrotfish, octopus, penguin, sea jelly, leatherback sea turtle, tiger shark, puffins, polar bear, and more - a seek-and-find activity (like I Spy) for readers to locate individual items within each sculpture, information about the creature depicted, and an action to take, e.g. drinking from a reusable glass or bottle, picking up trash, saying no to plastic bags, or eating ice cream from a cone instead of plastic cup (yum!).

Back matter: scavenger hunt, steps to building the sculptures, where do plastic bottles go?, glossary, resources (books and websites).

Hugely colorful endpapers (2022 endies??): the front is a photograph of a jumble of ocean plastic; the back is ocean plastic made into art: a map of the world with land in green, ocean in blue, ice in white, with swirls of yellow-orange for ocean currents/garbage patches. ( )