Friday Book Review: Colin the Crab

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We were sent a copy of Colin the Crab pop up book to review:

With World Oceans Day on June 8^th, Colin The Crab, leading light of Norfolk-based Gone Crabbing, has launched a new book about him and his shoal of seaside sole mates – Sally the Starfish and Mike the Mussel with the help of Mr Pop-up, Robert Crowther www.robertcrowtherpopsupco.uk.

Life goes swimmingly for the three friends living happily in their remote rock pool. Then, one summer’s day, Sally and Mike are swept up into a bucket by a couple of children who are exploring the beach. After a bit of a lie down to recover from the shock, Colin is just about to set off to find his friends when, miraculously, they’re returned to their home at the end of the day.

Beautifully illustrated and brought to life by a series of delightful pop-ups, the underlying message in the book is a serious one. Thousands of families enjoy crabbing and rock pooling up-and-down the UK during the summer. However, it’s important to limit the number of sea creatures collected at any one time and to ensure the water is kept cool. And, just as the children in the story do, they should be returned as close to where they were found as possible.

Crabbing is something that we have done as a family and also looking for creatures in rock pools, so its good to have a book aimed at teaching children how to do this in a responsible fashion. Even though my son is 7 he still enjoys a pop up book (do we ever grow out of them?).

The story is in depth enough to be enjoyed by slightly older children and we could discuss what the characters in the book were doing and what they should do. There is also a YouTube video to go with the book:

Its a great way to get the message across to children (and their parents!) on how to be responsible crabbers this summer. 

We were also sent a couple of lovely goodies from their gift range. The mug sneaked into the book shot but here is its official photo:

A very high quality mug to drink a hot beverage out of whilst reading the story! There was also a bar of totally clawsome soap:

My daughter isn't too keen on the scent of Wild Lettuce but it smells very refreshing and sea side like.