Good Eating: The Short Life of Krill

Posted on 01/09/2023

978-0884488675 | Tilbury House Publishers

Once a year, during the month of December, librarian and School Library Journal blogger Betsy Bird publishes a set of posts she calls, “31 Days, 31 Lists: 2022”. Many books on the list are picture books, both fiction and nonfiction, but she also devotes a post to favorite board books, middle grade, audio books, poetry, and even, picture books in translation.

As an author myself, I do my best to stay up on the newest books in the kidlit world, but often, the newer books don’t arrive at my library for months, and sometimes, it takes multiple mentions of a book for me to finally add it to my holds.

Betsy Bird’s December post about Nonfiction Picture Books sent me back to the library with a long list of new titles I wanted to read, and one of those was GOOD EATING: The Short Life of Krill by Matt Lilley, illustrated by Dan Tavis. I’d been hearing about this book since it came out this time last year, but this was my first time reading it, and I can’t say enough good things. We all know that krill are “good eating” for many ocean animals, including the largest on earth, blue whales, but I, for one, had no idea that krill led such fascinating lives.

The story, told in an engaing apostrophe voice (the story’s narrator speaks directly to the krill), begins:

“Hey, egg. What are you doing?
Are you sinking?”

CLICK TO ENLARGE © text by Matt Lilley, illustration by Dan Tavis

It continues, a few pages later:

“Are those arms?

You are a six-armed oval.
You grow pokey spines.
But what are you?”

(nauplius)

 

CLICK TO ENLARGE © text by Matt Lilley, illustration by Dan Tavis

If only I’d had this picture book when I was a classroom teacher! Most kids learn that krill eat plankton and are very small animals that look something like tiny shrimp. But that’s about where it ends. GOOD EATING will fill in the gaps with fascinating details about the life cycle of krill and would be an excellent addition to an animal, life cycle, or ocean unit.

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