Q: As a marine biologist you write very successful books for adults, teach at the University of Cambridge and contribute to various science podcasts and radio programmes. How do you change your approach, when addressing a younger audience? Q: You have travelled extensively for your academic research and describe yourself as an explorer. What has been your greatest adventure? Is there anywhere you haven't been yet that you would love to explore? Q: Ultimate Library supplies books to kids' clubs at resorts all around the world. How can your book 'What a Shall Can Tell' be used by resorts, as well as parents, to encourage children to engage with nature and explore new environments? Q: From sea shells to creatures from the Abyss, you've covered many of the creatures in the ocean already, what can we expect from your future work? Q: Which three books have inspired your work and your writing? The Edge of the Sea A Song for the Blue Ocean I’m going to cheat and pick two picture books for my joint third book. Both are about cats by the sea and they were two of my favourite books as a child: The Mousehole Cat Orlando, A Seaside Holiday Why do book collections matter? Book a consultation with a ~personal curator Contact Quick Links Follow us @ultimatelibrary Join our community
Marine Biologist Dr Helen Scales On The Wonders Of The Ocean
12 Apr 2023
When it comes to curating books for seaside locations, it goes without saying that material on the ocean and marine life is always top of mind for its ability to connect readers with their environment. One of our current favourite authors is British marine biologist and documentary maker, ‘the aptly named’ Dr Helen Scales, who unlocks the secrets of the ocean for readers of all ages with books like
Spirals in Time, The Brilliant Abyss
and more recently
What a Shell Can Tell.
Helen has had a lifelong affair with the sea, from early childhood holidays spent exploring Cornish beaches to scuba diving as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (she has logged over 300 hours!). Now, alongside her research into a myriad of fish, coral and molluscs from Madagascar to the Philippines, Helen teaches at Cambridge University, she is a storytelling ambassador for Save Our Seas Foundation, and a scientific advisor for Sea Changes. We had the joy of talking to Helen to learn more about her approach to writing for all ages, her next great adventure and books that have inspired her work. To discuss curating your own marine library, get in touch with our book experts today.
In essence, the ideas I write about are similar for readers of all ages. All my work aims to show people the living wonders of the ocean, why they matter and are in trouble, and hopefully to help readers care more about them. The key difference for picture books is that I collaborate with artists and together we create a blend of words and art to tell stories about the ocean. Rather than painting pictures only with words, we paint actual pictures too! It lets me think about my ideas in a much more visual way. I love working with artists. It’s always incredibly exciting to see my ideas take shape and transform into beautiful, stunning scenes on the page.
I think the most adventurous adventure I’ve had was to a tiny coral atoll, hundreds of miles off the coast of Borneo, in the South China Sea. There was a team of just 6 of us. We took a few days of sailing to get there and for 3 months we camped out under the stars and every day went scuba diving to study the most beautiful and pristine coral reef I’ve ever seen. The sea was so clear, diving felt like flying above lush gardens of coral. There are loads more places I would love to explore. This year I’m going to the Arctic for the first time, to sail around the island of Svalbard. And I really hope one day I can go to Antarctica.
A big hope I have for
What a Shell Can Tell
is that it encourages readers to go out and find shells and look at them in new ways, learning to see for themselves that there are lots of things that shells can tell us. And anyone can do this. You don’t have to be a scientist or have any special training. Just go out and see what you can find. ~~The outdoor spaces of resorts, especially coastal resorts, are a perfect place to do this. And don’t forget there are amazing land snails to find too if you aren’t near the sea! I would love resorts to encourage children and their families to go (carefully!) into the wilder places and look for shells, perhaps leading shell walks with groups going out together and seeing what they can find. Then, children and their families can use the book to help them understand what types of animals made these shells, and also talk about the bigger stories linked to shells, such as how people use them, and how they are suffering from threats like overfishing and climate change.
I’m working on several more books at the moment. They span a range of ocean localities (just a hint: one of them is very cold!), and have different stories about nature to tell. And there are plenty more ocean creatures I still want to write about!
Rachel Carson
All her books about the ocean have deeply inspired me since I first read them as a teenager. She was a pioneer in blending ocean science with beautiful, mesmerising writing. She knew exactly how to transport readers away into these hidden parts of our world.
Carl Safina
I read this when I was studying marine biology at university and it gave me the idea of one day writing my own books about the ocean. He captured the beauty and also the threats to the ocean so vividly, and I started to think about doing something like that myself.
Antonia Barber and Nicola Bayley
This is a gorgeous story of a brave cat who lives by the sea in Cornwall (where I spent a lot of my childhood holidays) and saves his fisherman master from a terrible storm cat. I love how the storm-cat merges with the waves and embodies the stormy nature of the ocean. And the artwork is so intricate and lifelike. It makes me feel like I could reach in, stroke the cats and hear them purr.
Kathleen Hale
I love the busy scenes on every page, in particular when Orlando’s family are exploring the beach and having adventures. There’s another ocean rescue scene in this one too! Without realising it, this book helped give me a sense of how to mix together pictures and words on the page, something which comes in handy with what I do now.
We want to thank Helen once again for being our expert this month, you can find out more about her books, including recently published,
What a Shell Can Tell
(Phaidon) on her
website
and on her
Instagram
.
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