Picture Books About The Sea

We’ll miss our usual holiday to the seaside this year so we decided to read about beaches and oceans instead! This led to the discovery of National Marine Week, ‘The Wildlife Trusts’ nationwide celebration of all things marine.’ Between now and August 9th there are various activities taking place in the UK and online to raise awareness of different kinds of sealife and encourage families to explore beaches.

Our list of picture books about the sea includes a mix of fiction and non fiction and includes an absolutely fascinating picture book biography and a story using the most amazing paper engineering.

FICTION

The SEA SAW by Tom Percival

The SEA SAW is a beautifully illustrated, incredibly emotive story about the loss of a well loved teddy bear on a day out to the beach. Sofia’s bear is particularly special as it belonged to her mother but The SEA SAW what happened and is determined to help the bear to get back home.

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The Tide by Clare Helen Welsh and Ashling Lindsay

The Tide is a beautifully illustrated story that uses the imagery of the tide going in and out to convey and explain Grandad’s dementia – sometimes the tide is in, sometimes it is out. Some days Grandad has clearer memories than others.

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Little Turtle and the Sea by Becky Davies & Jennie Poh

Little Turtle and the Sea is ‘a story of survival in our polluted oceans’. Lyrical language and beautiful illustrations combine to create awareness of the danger that our sea creatures are in as a result of our plastic waste being dumped into the ocean. The story conveys an important message and gives us lots to think about in terms of our plastic use.

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Setsuko and The Song Of The Sea by Fiona Barker & Howard Gray

When Setsuko befriends a lonely whale, the whale’s song encourages her and her friends to clean up the ocean and restore its beauty. Ocean pollution affects marine life and threatens the lives of sea creatures. Setsuko’s story can encourage to children to make sure that they take all their rubbish home after a visit to the sea and could even inspire a community beach clean.

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Ludwig The Sea Dog by Henning Lohlein

Put on your 3D goggles and join Ludwig The Sea Dog in a magical adventure which takes him out of a book and into a watery world! You really feel like you are swimming in the underwater scenes as Ludwig helps his friend, Peter the Penguin, who is having problems with his submarine.

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The Pirates of Scurvy Sands by Jonny Duddle

Matilda joins The Jolley Rogers on their holiday in Scurvy Sands but rumours start to spread that Matilda is a landlubber. To ease suspicions Matilda must start behaving more like a pirate so she and Jim start to look for Jack McMuddle’s long lost treasure…

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Sea Lights by Ruth Symons & Carolina Rabei

Sea Lights is a novelty bedtime story that uses paper engineering to ‘light up’ different elements on each spread. The book is sturdy and includes wheels, flaps and sliders to illuminate the pages. It’s a gentle, calming story about the different lights that guide a little girl and her dad through an evening’s fishing.

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NON FICTION

Hidden World Ocean by Libby Walden & Stephanie Fizer-Coleman

Hidden World Ocean is a beautifully illustrated, sturdy lift-the-flap book which introduces children to thirty six different sea dwelling creatures. It’s a colourful introduction to sea life which includes many different species including sharks, octopuses, various fish and crabs.

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The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding The World’s Coral Reefs by Kate Messner & Matthew Forsythe

The Brilliant Deep tells the true and absolutely fascinating story of Ken Nedimyer who has discovered a way to grow coral. Ken’s experiments and dedication to preserving the reefs in The Florida Keys has also led to him teaching others around the world how to save the coral in their own countries.

Do you have a favourite picture book with a sea or ocean setting? We’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments.

More seaside inspired books, arts, crafts and learning activities on Pinterest