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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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
We will miss our time at the beach too! I love your selection of beach themed books. Some bringing fun adventures and others bringing comfort. Fab round-up. x
Thanks Jayne – sorry to hear you won’t get to the beach either 🙁
I’m definitely missing our family walks by the sea. It’s funny. I’ve been thinking back recently to the seaside themed books I used to read the children when they were younger. Your collection is lovely and inspiring. #mmbc
Thanks Cheryl, we’re being drawn to seaside books as comfort reads right now 🙂
There is something about being at the beach beside the ocean or other large body of water that makes life more exciting. Love your choice of books today. Hope you have a good week. #MMBC
Being by the sea is my happy place – I love the beach, especially on windy winter days 🙂
My youngest was at the beach last week with her friend but I can’t see us going this year as a family. Hmmf.
What lovely books. x
My parents live on the coast and they say that the beaches are really crowded – not a lot of social distancing at all 🙁
These books sound great. I haven’t been to the beach in years, but I used to go there a lot as a child and loved it. #readwithme
I lived near the beach when I was a child – now I’m miles away and I really miss it!
Aww these books look so lovely! I’m desperate to go to a beach but we don’t live anywhere near and I’m too nervous of how busy they’ll be! #mmbc
I’ve heard that lots of people are going to beaches – they probably think that they can social distance then find out it’s different when they get there!
These look a lovely selection of books. No beach holiday for us either this year. When I was aged 5, my grandparents moved to near the seaside, so I got lots more beach visits than most.
I was lucky to live by the sea as a child. I have lots of lovely memories of summer holidays at the beach 🙂
What a great selection! I must say I particularly like the sound of The Tide.
The Tide is a lovely gentle way to introduce dementia to a child, it’s beautifully illustrated too 🙂