Books about the seaside

Adventures of the Steampunk Pirates: rise of the slippery sea monster

Author: Gareth P Jones
Publisher: Stripes
Interest age: 7-11
Reading age: 7+

The Steampunk Pirates' treasure has been stolen by what they think is a sea monster. They make a plan to get their treasure back and uncover more mysteries than they bargained for in this rip-roaring tale of daring-do on the high seas.

Bad Mermaids

Author: Sibéal Pounder Illustrator: Jason Cockroft
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Interest age: 7-11
Reading age: 9-11

Beattie, Mimi and Zelda will change the way you see mermaids forever as they attempt to save their home of Swirlyshell in this delightfully silly story from the author of Witch Wars.

Deep Water

Author: Lu Hersey
Publisher: Usborne
Interest age: 12+
Reading age: 12+

Hugely evocative of the romantic and wild Cornish landscape, this modern retelling of the selkie myth is a magical and beautiful story about coming of age, transformation and belonging.

Flush

Author: Carl Hiaasen
Publisher: Random House
Interest age: 10+
Reading age: 9+

This is an engaging and light-hearted thriller about issues that matter - justice, family and the environment.

Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid

Author: Metaphrog
Publisher: Papercutz
Interest age: 8-12
Reading age: 8+

The Little Mermaid lives happily under the sea, but her older sisters' tales of what they see on the surface of the water start to make her yearn for something more.

Ingo

Author: Helen Dunmore
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 9+

In Cornish legend, the Zenor mermaid fell in love with Mathew Trewhella and enticed him away to live in the sea with her forever...

Lost and Found

Author: Oliver Jeffers
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Interest age: 3-5

Once there was a sad, lonely penguin who appeared at the door of a young boy. The boy decided he must be lost, so he set off to find his home.

Not As We Know It

Author: Tom Avery
Publisher: Andersen Press
Interest age: 9+
Reading age: 9

Younger middle-grade readers desperate to get their teeth into something a little more serious will enjoy this sensitive story.

Oliver and the Seawigs

Author: Philip Reeve Illustrator: Sarah McIntyre
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Interest age: 7+
Reading age: 8+

Philip Reeve and Sarah McInytre have joined forces to create a wonderfully wacky nautical tale.

Tamsin and the Deep

Author: Neill Cameron and Kate Brown
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Interest age: 8-12
Reading age: 8-12

A fantastic graphic novel from the team at children's comic The Phoenix, this is a page-turning adventure with a great main character in brave, athletic and reckless Tamsin.

The Pirates Next Door

Author: Jonny Duddle
Publisher: Templar Publishing
Interest age: 3+
Reading age: 6+

Lots of humour and irrepressibly rakish pirates combine in this entertaining book about looking beyond appearances

The Snail and the Whale

Author: Julia Donaldson Illustrator: Axel Scheffler
Publisher: Macmillan Children's books
Interest age: 3-6
Reading age: 6+

This book by the award-winning Gruffalo partnership is about a tiny snail who longs to see the world, and the enormous grey-blue humpback whale who gives him a lift on his tail.

The Tail of Emily Windsnap

Author: Liz Kessler Illustrator: Sarah Gibb
Publisher: Hachette
Interest age: 8+
Reading age: 9+

Emily Windsnap has lived on a boat her whole life but her mother has seemed strangely anxious to keep her away from the water itself.

All is explained when Emily is finally allowed to have swimming lessons and she makes a startling discovery. As she learns more about herself, and her mermaid origins, Emily explores the glorious world under the sea, where Nep…