A First Book of the Sea

From the excitement of being the first one in the car to seeing the sea after a long drive, to learning about the icy sky above the Arctic ocean and watching sea turtles, A First Book of the Sea reunites nature writer and poet Nicola Davies and illustrator Emily Sutton to create another stunning volume of odes to the wonders of the sea.

This is a visual treat and a book that should have pride of place in any school library, classroom and at home – Sutton’s illustration is phenomenal, and pages such as the ones illustrating the poems “Shoal” or “Star School” are beautiful, inclusive, and appealing to young readers.

Davies’ poems are by turns sensitive, full of sensuous natural imagery but also remind children of sea pollution and overfishing.

The third in the series created by Davies and Sutton after A First Book of Nature and A First Book of Animals, this beautiful large hardback is split into four sections: Down by the Shore, Journeys, Under the Sea and Wonders. Each section contains a selection of short poems, rhyming and non-rhyming, suitable for sharing with younger primary age children; older ones might like to read and reflect on the poems themselves.