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This week’s children’s book review is all about The wide, wide sea by Anna Wilson and Jenny Løvlie . The book was published by Nosy Crow and it can be purchased on Amazon*.
A lyrical and inspirational picture book about protecting nature from plastic pollution.
When a young child forges a special connection with a seal on a trip to the seaside, their imagination takes them on an unforgettable journey. Through their eyes, we have a chance to explore everything the amazing beach and wide, wide sea has to offer . . . until suddenly a violent storm blows in. The next morning the beach is ugly . . . and covered in litter. Whose fault is it? And who can fix it? Together, the child, their grandmother, and the rest of the community clean the beach, and the child makes a promise to the seal that things will change for the better.
Nosy Crow publish lots of beautiful books for children but some of my favourites are those done with National Trust. Not only do they make stunning books with wonderful illustrations but they can also tackle important issues in a way that’s really suitable for children. This is one of those books.
In this book, a gran and their grandchild are having a trip to the beach declaring it ‘the best place in the whole wide world’. They stop to explore the different things that can be found at the beach such as pebbles, driftwood and shells. Then, they look out to sea and spot a seal, where the book then explores the world under the sea.
As beautiful as the beach was, after going home there is a storm and when Gran and the grandchild go back to the beach, it’s not the same any more. Not only have branches and twigs fallen from trees but the beach is covered in things that shouldn’t be there. Gran explains that it was people who left things they shouldn’t have and they set out to do a beach clean up.
This is such an important book about teaching children about littering and looking after our outdoors areas. Not only is dumping litter and plastics bad on it’s own but they could be really harmful to the wildlife in places such as a beach. This book tackles this subject in a really subtle way though and one that children will be able to understand easily.
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