A Turtle's View of the Ocean Blue; Catherine Barr, illustrated by Brendan Kearney

A Turtle’s View of the Ocean Blue is the follow up book to A Cat’s Guide to the Night Sky. This time round, the cat has been replaced by a turtle and instead of looking up we are diving down into the wonderful world of oceans.

The oceans matter. Bursting with life they are essential to the planet, providing food, jobs and oxygen. Beneath the surface there is a wonderful and rather unexplored world that exists and thrives. Take a deep dive and discover incredible ocean dwellers and amazing habitats. See the carefully balanced ecosystems, the threats and challenges that could disrupt everything and how you can help…

A Turtle’s View of the Ocean Blue is a beautiful book that educates and dazzles in equal measure. With immersive underwater landscapes and interesting and informative text, it will surely create a buzz about everything that is in the ocean and much wonderment about what could be lurking in the depths - ninety percent of what lives in the ocean is still yet to be discovered.

With a friendly turtle as a guide, readers are taken on a fantastic fact-filled underwater adventure that begins with an introduction to each of the five oceans before exploring how oceans work, different ocean habitats, ocean wonders and challenges that the oceans face. Every aspect of the ocean is explored from waves to tides, the life-rich sunlight zone to the dark depths of the abyss, coral reefs to kelp forests, estuaries to seagrass meadows, strange phenomena to impressive migrations, ocean threats to how to help. There is such a variety of information within the pages and it is the kind of book that could go a long way to helping ensure that future generations grow up with the knowledge and mindset to guarantee that the oceans are valued, respected and protected.

Author, Brendan Kearney, and illustrator, Catherine Barr, have created a book that is visually appealing and incredibly insightful, it makes for something that readers will want to get lost in for hours at a time. Kearney’s gorgeous spreads create a rich and vibrant underwater world that just begs to be explored and with little challenges of things to spot there is plenty for readers to look for. The endpapers are beautiful too - they are filled with ocean creatures. On each page, expert author Barr delivers information that is clearly and concisely presented in carefully written paragraphs. An index and a glossary of useful terms can be found at the back.

A wonderfully fun and imaginative way for children to learn about the oceans, their inhabitants and their ecosystems.

Recommended for 7+.