Mr Clownfish, Miss Anemone and the hermit crab by Sean E Avery

The interconnectedness of living creatures underlines the main thrust of this loving romp under the waves. Miss Anemone and Mr Clownfish rely on each other. Mr Clownfish hides amongst her poisonous tentacles when larger fish try to eat him. And in return, Mr Clownfish scares off anemone eating fish that happen to come by. Twice a day, Mr Clownfish cleans her tentacles and together they eat the very small sea morsels. But sometimes there are few around so Mr Clownfish must swim further away to find them a meal. Miss Anemone would love to go with him, but she is firmly stuck to the rock where she lives. She is lonely without him but happy when he returns with enough small sea morsels for them both. On her birthday he brings in a shell for her before setting out to catch more sea morsels, but when he returns, she is not there. He is dumbfounded because she cannot move by herself as she is stuck to the rock. He concludes she has been kidnapped. He becomes very angry and sets off to find her. He follows the kidnapper’s tracks across the ocean floor.

Catching up he is amazed to find that Miss Anemone is pleased as the Hermit Crab helps her move so she will no longer need the clownfish to find food for her. Mr Clownfish is devastated and begins to swim away. She calls after him to say that the three of them can collect the sea morsels together. So the three remain together, each collecting sea morsels and scaring off the larger anemone eating fish.

The illustrations are filled with colour and interest, young readers will love finding all the sea creatures of the sea, seeing their interconnection and struggle for survival.They will be intrigued with the array of life to be found on the ocean floor, and like me pour over the different ways Sean Avery presents his material. From full pages to small boxes of images, the search for Miss Anemone is laid out like an old treasure map, Miss Anemone looking like a hand knitted tea pot cover, and chidlren will find lots to like in pouring over the illustrations, soaking up the premise that we are all dependent upon each other.

Themes: Interdependence, Sea creatures, Ocean, Clownfish, Anemones, Hermit crabs, Seaweed, Friendship.

Fran Knight