Sunken Ship

Sunken Ship is a nonfiction picture book by Amy Hevron, part of a series about how even the smallest habitats play big roles in nature. This installment looks at the reefs that grow on sunken ships.

It opens long ago, with a grand treasure ship crossing the Caribbean Sea. A storm rolls in and the ship is tossed, tilted, and swamped before it sinks to the seafloor, where it will become a different kind of treasure.

The book explains that when ships go down, time can turn them into rich reef ecosystems that shelter plenty of sea life, both large and small. Sunken ships and other human-made objects under the water are known as artificial reefs. They give food and shelter to many plants and animals, from tiny sea lettuces to big bottlenose dolphins and many species in between.

The text is funny and snappy, the illustrations lush, and together they invite curious readers into a small ecosystem full of treasures.