Crab, Dab & Blenny by Peta Rainford – Book Review
Crab, Dab & Blenny by Peta Rainford – Book Review
Crab, Dab & Blenny
Author – Peta Rainford
Publisher – Dogpigeon Books
Pages – 34
Released – 4th May 2021
Format – paperback
Rating – 5 Stars
I received a free copy of this book.
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Synopsis
Fish friends Dab and Blenny are upset by the plastic that washes into their lovely rockpool home. Crab, on the other hand, just LOVES the shiny bright colour… But when Blenny gets caught in plastic twine, Crab finally understands the danger of plastics in the ocean.
Inspired by the rockpools of the Isle of Wight, Crab, Dab & Blenny is a fun, rhyming picture book about friendship, with an important environmental message about plastic pollution.
It’s a great way of introducing young children to this important issue, whether they are independent early readers or cuddling up for a bedtime story. It’s also a great resource for teachers in Key Stage 1 (KS1).
Review by Stacey
Friends Crab, Dab, and Blenny lived in a rock pool. Crab wasn’t happy with his home, he wanted something new, so when bits of plastic started appearing he embraced the new rockpool look. That was until his friend Blenny got caught up in some twine and the friends didn’t know how to help him.
Over the last few months, I have reviewed a lot of children’s books about plastic pollution and the effects it is having on our seas and oceans. This book is a wonderful addition to the collection of children’s books that are aiming to educate the younger generation and to save our sea creatures.
This book is slightly different as it features a rockpool which I am certain a lot of children have seen when they have visited the beach. I love how we are introduced to the three friends who have very different personalities. I also loved how Crab at the start didn’t think there was anything wrong with all the plastic and liked having new, different items in his home.
Author Peta Rainford explains to children in a simple to understand way why plastic is bad for the sea creatures, where it comes from, and how some of it is invisible to the naked eye, such as clothing fibres and microbeads.
The book is beautifully adorned with full-page amazing artwork that has a pastel/crayon look to it and emphasises how bad the plastic is.
Crab, Dab & Blenny is a beautiful, rich, educational story that will not only gives children a wonderful tale but also arms them with the knowledge that not only is plastic bad for the environment but how they can help when they are next at the beach if they see plastic lying around.
This is a book that would be perfect for a primary school class project. The only thing that I would have loved to have seen in the book is some facts or website details at the back where children could have found out more and how they can help protect the planet.
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Peta writes and illustrates her funny picture books on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and hairy jack russell, Archie. Her colourful books combine fun and silliness with important issues like childhood anxiety and resilience and environmental concerns including light and plastic pollution.
Peta loves going into schools to share her books and inspire children in their writing and art. She has appeared at a number of festivals and other events, including: Barnes Children’s Literature Festival, Isle of Wight Literary Festival, Exmoor Dark Skies Festival and Ventnor Fringe. She is one of the organisers of the IW Story Festival, for children and families, which takes place every February half term.
Thank you Stacey so much for this wonderful review
I’m so happy that you liked my review of Crab, Dab & Blenny.