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Topic: Oceans & Seas (KS2)

Picturebook

This is the story of a woman who dared to dive, defy, discover, and inspire. This is the story of Shark Lady. One of the best science picture books for children, Shark Lady is a must for both teachers and parents alike!

An Amazon Best Book of the Month Named a Best Children’s Book of 2017 by Parents magazine

Eugenie Clark fell in love with sharks from the first moment she saw them at the aquarium. She couldn’t imagine anything more exciting than studying these graceful creatures. But Eugenie quickly discovered that many people believed sharks to be ugly and scary-and they didn’t think women should be scientists.

Determined to prove them wrong, Eugenie devoted her life to learning about sharks. After earning several college degrees and making countless discoveries, Eugenie wrote herself into the history of science, earning the nickname “Shark Lady.” Through her accomplishments, she taught the world that sharks were to be admired rather than feared and that women can do anything they set their minds to.

Non-fiction

Fish, sharks, whales, and invertebrates swim through the pages of this colourful ocean book, which combines gorgeous illustrations and photos to help young enthusiasts learn all about the world’s oceans. Children will learn interesting facts, and explanations about how the ocean functions, such as, how underwater plants and species rely on each other, and how ocean animals have fun and look after their young. This beautiful book is the perfect gift for young animal and conservation enthusiasts.

Chapter book

What if you could communicate with a whale?

Rio has been sent to live with a grandmother he barely knows in California, while his mum is in hospital back home. Alone and adrift, the only thing that makes him smile is joining his new friend Marina on her dad’s whale watching trips. That is until an incredible encounter with White Beak, a gentle giant of the sea changes everything. But when White Beak goes missing, Rio must set out on a desperate quest to find his whale and somehow save his mum.

Dive into this incredible story about the connection between a boy and a whale and the bond that sets them both free.

Non-fiction

If you could talk to animals, what would you ask? Get familiar with 10 extraordinary ocean giants as they step up to the mic and share their habits, behaviour, likes and dislikes, favourite foods, and more. Each animal has its own story to tell… and its own attitude!

In this fun and fact-filled book, bite-sized text in a question-and-answer format is paired with colourful and engaging illustrations throughout, perfect for emerging or reluctant readers, or any young animal enthusiast who enjoys a bit of humour!

Features ‘interviews’ with a great white shark, blue whale, orca, sunfish, giant squid, narwhal, manta ray, octopus, conger eel, and angler fish. Plus, ideas for how to do your bit to help endangered species.

Non-fiction

Set your spirit of adventure free with this journey to the world’s great oceans, discovering the diversity of life that exists in the deep blue sea.

Whether you’re travelling long haul with leatherback turtles across the Pacific, snoozing with sea otters or ice bathing with a walrus, this book celebrates the very prescient topic of the world’s oceans with Lucy Letherland ‘s animal characters.

Each section begins with an infographic map of the ocean it explores – Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Southern and Arctic – followed by richly detailed two-page spreads exploring its depths and the denizens within , as well as seabirds , coral reefs and shoreline critters . Discover saltwater crocodiles lurking in the Andaman Islands, hammerheads gathering in the Atlantic, and the awe-inspiring colossal squid that calls the Ross Sea home.

Lucy Letherland’s illuminating artwork shows how these oceans teem with life, forming part of complex and fascinating ecosystems, all in a quirky, characterful style.

Graphic Novel

With the humorous and heartfelt tones of Finding Nemo, The Aquanaut follows a group of determined characters on their entangled journey to save their family.

First there’s a band of sea creatures struggling to find their way to a fabled paradise and safe haven for marine life. Then there’s a girl who lost her father at sea and is at risk of losing her uncle to his obsession with the legacy of a theme park. The unlikely group find their way to each other at AQUALAND, and stumble across what they are looking for in unexpected ways.

Non-fiction

This is our Blue Planet: a beautiful blue marble suspended in a sea of stars. Dive into these incredible stories from BBC Blue Planet II.

Unlike billions of other worlds in the Milky Way, 71 per cent of our Blue Planet is covered by ocean. It’s home to the greatest diversity of life on Earth but is our least explored habitat; we’ve better maps of Mars than of the ocean floor.

With so much more to discover, take a deep breath . . . and dive into a wondrous world beneath the waves .

Explore coral reefs that shimmer in a kaleidoscope of colours. Venture to the bottom of the ocean where creatures beyond your wildest imagination live in the dark. Chase sea otters through kelp forest seas, and glide the open ocean with humpback whales.

Chapter book

Nobody visits Eerie-on-Sea in the winter. Especially not when darkness falls and the wind howls around Maw Rocks and the wreck of the battleship Leviathan, where even now some swear they have seen the unctuous Malamander creep…

Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, knows that returning lost things to their rightful owners is not easy – especially when the lost thing is not a thing at all, but a girl. No one knows what happened to Violet Parma’s parents twelve years ago, and when she engages Herbie to help her find them, the pair discover that their disappearance might have something to do with the legendary sea-monster, the Malamander. Eerie-on-Sea has always been a mysteriously chilling place, where strange stories seem to wash up. And it just got stranger…

Chapter book

A funny, touching and original mystery-adventure about a young girl living on a tropical island – the first in a new series.

From multi award-winning author Nicola Davies comes a new adventure series, starring a young girl living on a tropical island in a sea full of islands. Washed up on Turtle Island as a toddler, Ariki has always felt different from the other children. But there’s somewhere she belongs heart and soul: the sea, where she plays with dolphins, sharks, whales and turtles. One day Ariki catches sight of a strange creature in the water, bigger than any she’s seen before – soon after, an enormous shark tooth is found on the sand. When a group of giant sharks start circling the shore, the island’s fishermen are too afraid to go out to sea. Without fish the people will starve… Can Ariki save the day? The first in an exciting new series, this book is strikingly original but has the feel of a classic: Ariki’s world is a timeless paradise, and children are sure to fall under the spell of this cheeky, charming little girl.

Non-fiction

Discover menacing sharks, playful dolphins, clownfish, penguins, turtles, whales, shimmering jellyfish and gargantuan giant squid. Ocean: Secrets of the Deep is jam-packed with hundreds of stylish illustrations and many more surprising facts about the world’s marine life. First, readers are taken on a journey from the water’s surface to the deepest, darkest depths of the oceans, stopping off at coral reefs and kelp forests. Next, information-packed spreads offer answers to questions such as: How do turtles keep clean? Do whales talk to each other? and What can humans do to save the ocean?

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