The Marine Team
(Button Books, October 2015)
Illustrated by Madeleine Rogers

“The great white shark is grey on top
And only white beneath.
But in her great white smile you’ll find
Three hundred great white teeth.”

Beneath the waves, where seaweed sways, you will find five marine creatures going about their underwater lives. An armour-shelled green turtle swims across the ocean to lay her eggs on the beach where she was born. A great white shark shows off the 300 teeth of her great white grin. A deep-sea diving seal twitches his whiskers to detect fish. A blue whale as big as a jumbo jet catches krill in her mouth’s vast fishing net.

The Marine Team introduces children to life beneath the ocean by combining simple verses – which always reveal facts about the creatures – with the bold and beautiful illustrations of Madeleine Rogers. Also included is a set of paper animals and scenery to pop out, fold and glue. The book jacket converts into an underwater background, so that the reader can create their own collection of forest animals and bring the stories to life.

This is the third in a series of books conceived and created by the supremely talented Madeleine Rogers, who is the creative force behind the MIBO brand. It is part of a growing list of children’s titles produced by Button Books. The first three titles in the series are The Jungle Crew, The Polar Pack and The Safari Set.

I was lucky enough to work with Madeleine and write the verses for The Forest Folk, The Marine Team and The Sky Guys.

“When seas grow rough, it’s tough for our marine team to survive,
But now you know their secrets, you can bring their tales alive.”