8 Wonderfully Awesome Books to Pair With An Ocean Topic.

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For the first couple of weeks of January we chose a slightly unusual theme to learn about; the Big Blue. I know traditionally people take inspiration from winter, cold habitats and so on. However, I decided to follow Mabel's interest to increase engagement. Plus it's just us so why not?!

I, like many people like to use books for both inspiration or to have to hand to further learning opportunities and continue to foster a love of reading and books. Therefore, in this post I will be sharing some of our favourite books on this topic.

1. Little Whale by Jo Weaver

This is a book about the migration of a whale and her calf. The charcoal illustrations are stunning and really set the scene beautifully. This was a library find and I personally think it is very versatile for bookish play. For younger children it would sit nicely alongside sensory play; for example play dough or a sensory puzzle. For older children, they could add details to their journey, add another page to the story (i.e what happened next) or use it as inspiration to find out and write a fact file about whale migration.

2. Somebody Swallowed Stanley by Sarah Roberts.

For those who haven't yet read this, Stanley is in fact a plastic bag but everyone seems to think he is a tasty jellyfish! This book is a fantastic resource for illustrating the dangers of plastics in our seas and the damage it can and is doing. With Mabel I have used this as a book to have alongside play as she is too young to understand the message but that doesn't mean we can't appreciate and enjoy the story. I have had this out near a shell washing activity and again play dough (can you tell play dough is a go to in our house!)

For older children again this has been used in a work setting prior to a beach cleaning trip to illustrate why we were going to collect rubbish. The teacher then planned to use some of that rubbish to create a collaborative piece of sculpture in the form of a turtle. The end result was fantastic. Of course, if you are at home this could be adapted to reuse some of your own household waste and create junk model sea creatures.

3. The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

A beautiful story about the power of sharing, and how this can lead to happiness. The rainbow fish is revered as beautiful for having silver scales. The fish believes himself to be better than the others in the shoal, but soon finds himself lonely and unhappy. When given the advice to share to gain happiness he is unsure he can do it, but when he does he realises the advice was correct.

A great text for PSHE, English; the possibilities are vast- conversation writing, book review, story map etc. For younger children perfect for some arts and crafts or a tinker tray. Again, any sensory bin would (as with all the books on this list) complement the book perfectly.

4. A First book of the Sea - By Nicola Davies.

This was a Christmas present Mabel received and I think it is wonderful. A collection of poems about all things Sea for children to enjoy. With stunning illustrations from Emily Sutton that complement each poem excellently. Mabel is particularly fascinated by shells at the moment so that is our clear favourite at the moment.

To me this book is the needed resource if you are looking at writing ocean based poetry either at home or with your setting. It is a fantastic introduction to poetry and addition to any bookshelf. Again, with younger children I have used this book before going rock pooling. I have also had this book alongside many creative and sensory activities, for example saving frozen sea creatures, painting shells, process art etc.

5. Tiddler by Julia Donaldson.

A classic story that most children have read at some point. This is one of Mabel's favourite books so I can recite a lot of it by heart! The rhythmic rhymes are both soothing and entertaining. Great for deepening knowledge around rhyme which is an important part of literacy skill building. I also recommend Raising Arabella and Asher's Tiddler inspired story slices and their sea play base. I have used them both with Mabel with great success and engagement with sensory play. I plan to use the story slices like story spoons to help her retell the story in future as well.

6. The Whale who Wanted More by Rachel Bright.

This book is another collaboration with the wondrous Jim Field. His illustration are off the scale once again. In addition, Rachel has the most amazing way with words and conveying messages in an easy to understand, accessible way for children. The whale collects things every day but they are never "quite as shiny the following day." Similar to the rainbow fish when he realises he has a gift to share with the world and forges friendships, he starts unburdening himself of all his collection to find peace and a sense of belonging.

The rhyming again lends itself to a spot the rhyming word activity whilst reading, or can you think of more rhyming words? Fantastic for PSHE, for themes of friendship, kindness, belonging, sharing. Could also use in conjunction with 'Little Whale.'

7. The Story Thief by Graham Carter.

I love this story about a young girl, Olive who sets out to find all the stolen books. The thief is perplexed as to the purpose of books until Olive comes along and shares the joy of the stolen stories.

This again is great for PSHE - friendship, sharing and also forgiveness. A mind map illustrating what makes a good friend would be a good activity. Because Olive loves books, why not decide what her favourite story is and why. Another activity is to plan a story the octopus and Olive share with newcomers.

8. Just Narwhal by Rosie Greening

This has turned out to be another favourite of mine. Normally, I am not sure I would have purchased it but it was on offer so I took a punt. I have used it at work on several occasions. Narwhal doesn't have very high self esteem, believing that she is not good enough to judge the mermaids painting competition. Narwhal tries to find other more worthy judges, and begins to realise that actually they are not judging fairly. Overall, I think this book is a brilliant reminder that we all are unique and have different strengths. Some are not as obvious; but not of us are 'just' anything. We should be celebrating and proud of who we are.

This can be used as a precursor to 'what makes me unique' work. this could be individual or group. for example, a mind map of strengths, qualities and skills. Perhaps a discussion about how to choose the best painting. Creating a proud wall, where everyone has to draw or write one thing they are proud of.

As you may have noticed I stopped sharing what activities would work well with younger children about half way through. the reason is to prevent myself sounding repetitive. The truth is, all the books on this list lend themselves to sensory, creative, messy play so the world is you oyster (pun intended!)

So there you have it eight of our favourite ocean themed books. Is yours on the list?