1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jenkins, Steve. 2009. Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 978-0-618-96636-3
Jenkins, Steve. 2009. Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 978-0-618-96636-3
2. PLOT SUMMARY
In Down, Down, Down, Steve Jenkins takes the reader on a tour of the sea, learning about its different layers, the animals that live there, their unique adaptations to their environment, and their place in the food chain. The book starts with animals that break the surface, through the sunlit zone, the twilight zone, the dark zone, all the way to the ocean’s bottom. Readers will recognize some of the animals, but most are bizarre creatures they will not have seen or heard of before.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Steve Jenkins is a distinguished author and illustrator, whose books have been honored by Horn Book, the American Library Association, Publishers Weekly, New York Times, and the Caldecott Award. Jenkins’s reputation for quality children’s nonfiction is a recommendation in itself. His research for Down, Down, Down is documented in a bibliography at the end of the book. Though it is brief, the currency of the works cited (1998 through 2007) adds to the accuracy of Down, Down, Down. In an interview posted on Amazon (see Connections below), Jenkins describes researching many more books, websites, and ocean programming than is listed in the bibliography. He presents facts about the marine life as it is understood, but admits that our knowledge about life at the very lowest depths is limited. He leaves the door open for future discoveries, stating that exploration and discoveries continue in this substantially unknown world.
Steve Jenkins is a distinguished author and illustrator, whose books have been honored by Horn Book, the American Library Association, Publishers Weekly, New York Times, and the Caldecott Award. Jenkins’s reputation for quality children’s nonfiction is a recommendation in itself. His research for Down, Down, Down is documented in a bibliography at the end of the book. Though it is brief, the currency of the works cited (1998 through 2007) adds to the accuracy of Down, Down, Down. In an interview posted on Amazon (see Connections below), Jenkins describes researching many more books, websites, and ocean programming than is listed in the bibliography. He presents facts about the marine life as it is understood, but admits that our knowledge about life at the very lowest depths is limited. He leaves the door open for future discoveries, stating that exploration and discoveries continue in this substantially unknown world.
Jenkins does not make use of many verbal access features,
for example, the book lacks a table of contents, page numbers, and index. The
strong organization and visual access features compensate, however. Each spread
is given a heading describing its topic, and the book progresses in a
systematic way through the ocean depths. To help the reader keep track of how
far they have descended, each spread has a depth chart along the right margin,
with a tag indicating the depth and temperature. Measurements are given in both
U.S. customary and metric units (feet/meters and ˚F/˚C). A glossary summarizing
important vocabulary would make a helpful addition.
Jenkins’s voice in Down,
Down, Down takes on the character of a tour guide, pointing out interesting
trivia and using “we” to make this a shared journey of exploration. This adds a
personal quality to the text, and makes it feel like the journey is happening
in real time with the reader. He invites the reader to see what the fish see,
as if the readers were with him in a sub about to perform an experiment: “If we
turn out our light…” His text creates moods of mystery, anticipation, action,
and wonder. He paints a picture of an amazing world, which should capture
readers’ interest.
Jenkins does not avoid correct scientific terminology, like
bioluminescence or atmospheres of pressure, in order to simplify the text for
children. Instead, he builds comprehension through pronunciation guides,
readily-accessible definitions, or examples children will be able to relate to
out of their experiences (like feeling pressure changes in a fast elevator). A
challenge raised by the vocabulary, however, is that the reading level (a 6.0
according to Accelerated Reader) may create a discrepancy between reading level
and audience. Younger children attracted to the pictures may not be able to
read the book independently, and readers with the necessary reading skills may
find the illustrations too juvenile or may desire more information than is
contained in this introductory-level book. One content drawback to this book is
that there is a significant range of depths which are not discussed at all,
whether to say that similar animals live in the whole range or even to admit
that scientists are not yet sure about those depths.
The final pages of the book feature thumbnail reproductions
of each spread with numbered callouts for each of the animals. Each animal is
shown to scale with either an adult body or hand as a frame of reference.
Jenkins gives more details about the animals’ adaptations, place in the food
chain, unique factoids, and records of speed, length, or weight. Jenkins also
provides a depth chart showing how far humans can descend with no additional
equipment, scuba gear, and on through deep sea craft. Additional print or web
resources would encourage readers to continue their exploration of the deep sea
world. There is certainly information in the book which would lend itself to
discussion of ecosystems, adaptations, food webs, and scientific discovery,
though children may need adult interaction to make the most of it.
Down, Down, Down
is a hybrid of a survey book with a photo essay (though technically, these are
illustrations). Information given in the text is paired with striking images,
which are just as important and engaging as the text itself. Background colors are tied to depth, with
lighter colors near the surface and progressively darker colors as he brings
the reader farther down, until all the pages are black because no light ever
reaches those depths. A white font is used throughout the book, which contrasts
well against the dark backgrounds. The white text gets somewhat lost against
the lighter backgrounds, making it more difficult to read the pages at the
beginning of the book. Ocean life is given an almost three dimensional
appearance through layering of paper collage, painstakingly created to capture
colors, textures, and even light in the darkness.
4. REVIEW
EXCERPT(S) AND AWARDS
Bulletin of the Center
for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Award, 2009
New York Times Notable Children's Books, 2009
New York Times Notable Children's Books, 2009
Cybil Award, Finalist for nonfiction picture book, 2009
ALA Notable Children's Books, 2010
Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of
the Year, 2010
Texas Bluebonnet Book Award Nominee, 2010
H. W. Wilson’s Children’s
Core Collection, Most highly recommended
Kirkus: “Once again, Jenkins
provides an almost irresistible entry into our natural world for the youngest
readers.”
School Library Journal: “Depicted in Jenkins's
signature handsome collages, the denizens of each level swim against
ever-darkening backgrounds. . . Sometimes colorful or luminescent and often
toothy, they are both familiar and strange. . . The bold views tend to
emphasize the weirdness of these little-known species, but the repeated message
that humans have much to explore and learn in the deeper ocean is intriguing
and inviting.”
BookList: “In this plunge into the deep, Jenkins
displays his usual keen awareness of what is fascinating about biology. . .
Sophisticated cut- and torn-paper collage-work fit the alien qualities
of the subjects well. . . The scale of just how staggeringly deep the
ocean is, and how little we know of much beyond what happens at the surface, is
conveyed by sidebars on each page that drop precipitously from sea level to the
ocean floor many miles below. . . [A] most welcome introduction to the
sometimes-surprising world of marine biology.”
Natural
History: “A bestiary of sea creatures in cut paper, Down Down Down is
this year's gift to children from master illustrator Steve Jenkins. . . The deeper we go, the more outlandish the
creatures become, until finally we are in the fantastic company of the loosejaw
stoplight fish, the black swallower, and the fangtooth, all rendered in
astonishing cut-paper collages.”
5. CONNECTIONS
-
Find out more about Steve Jenkins and his writing
process through author interviews. Depending on the age of the children, this
may need to be mediated by the teacher.
-
Hold a virtual author visit. Brainstorm questions for
Steve Jenkins and submit the best by email at http://www.stevejenkinsbooks.com/contact.html
-
View photos and additional information about many of
the animals featured in Down, Down, Down.
It makes Jenkins’s illustrations even more amazing to see how well he has
captured these unique animals in paper.
Collard,
Sneed B. The Deep-Sea Floor. ISBN 978-1570914034
School Library Journal recommends this
as a pairing with Down, Down, Down.
Collard is a marine biologist.
-
Students could research a sea creature, bioluminescence,
or ocean conservation.
-
Pair Down, Down,
Down with a biography of Jacques Cousteau:
Yaccarino, Dan.
The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau.
ISBN 978-0-375-95573-0
Olmstead,
Kathleen. Jacques Cousteau: A Life Under
the Sea. ISBN 978-1-40276058-7
Berne, Jennifer. Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau. ISBN
978-0-8118-6063-5
-
Read more about the Trieste, the deepest-diving
research vessel:
-
Make use of prepared teaching units, for example
“Deep Sea Ecosystems: Extreme Living”
“Secrets of the
Ocean Realm” http://www.pbs.org/oceanrealm/intheschool/index.html
-
Students could invent a deep sea creature, where it
fits in the food web, what special adaptations it has, how large it is. Create
a picture using collage or other medium.
-
Check our Jenkins’s website, including a complete
listing of the books he has produced and a video about how he creates his collages:
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