My first book of Southern African Ocean Life (by Roberta Griffiths with illustrations by Judy Maré, published by Struik Nature) is another in a series of wonderful soft covers (I reviewed ‘My First Book of Southern African Mammals’ here) which are printed simultaneously in English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, and Zulu.

Simple introductions to the ocean’s food chain and how to use the book are followed by fifty eight pages of information on everything from the tiny zooplankton to the enormous blue whale – with one group or species featured per page.

The illustrations are bold and clear, and each page includes information on where the animals live, what they eat, and how they compare in size to an average person.

I can imagine I’m going to have many hours of with this one and my ocean-mad, five-year-old grandson. And it’s the kind of book that you’ll want in your sea-side guest house’s library, too – because big kids (say, of my age) will enjoy it since it’s  so easy to use (and the writing’s nice and big).

Buy it here.