CAPTAIN GREEN AND THE PLASTIC SCENE(Marshall Cavendish, 2018)
Illustrated by Danny Deeptown
Thank
you, Lynne Marie, for the opportunity to tell the story behind my debut picture
book, CAPTAIN GREEN AND THE PLASTIC SCENE.
Let me
begin by telling you about the story:
Fresh
out of Superhero School, Captain Green, the Caped Captain of Clean, gets a call.
Dolphin is tangled up in plastic, and there’s trouble for
Seagull and
Turtle
too. When our superhero rushes off to help, he finds himself on a
major mission: saving sea creatures from plastic. Captain Green tries to fix
things on his own, but eventually learns that it takes more than just
superpowers to save the seas.
And now for the story
behind the story!
I was
inspired to write Captain Green and the Plastic Scene while on
holiday in Indonesia several years ago. I was saddened by the huge amount
of plastic that had washed up on the beach not too far from our hotel. Such an
incredibly beautiful place was destroyed by our actions. I thought, this
pesky problem needs a superhero, and Captain Green was born! I immediately
began researching and writing the story with the goal of engaging children, in
a fun way, in the fight against ocean pollution.
I adore animals and nature and when I began to learn more and more
about the way plastic is polluting our oceans and hurting sea creatures, I
wanted to shine a light on the problem while, most importantly, telling a story
that children would enjoy and connect with. I watched documentaries, read
widely and talked to a marine biologist to learn as much as I could. Then I
chose three animals to include and studied their habits and habitats. It was
important for me to not overwhelm children but show them some ways that they
can make a difference.
In terms of the writing, I
included many patterns in the story, through the use of repeated language and
applying the rule of three in different ways, with the aim of showing
connections between characters and events and to aid the story’s pacing. I had
a ball choosing snappy superhero language to accompany Captain Green’s actions.
One of my
goals when writing this story was for Captain Green to be a role model of
sorts. While he is a superhero, and an inexperienced one at that, he is also a
kid. I feel that children can relate to him as he clearly doesn’t know
everything, but is willing to learn. Danny Deeptown, the book’s incredible
illustrator, felt that it was important to get Captain Green’s innocence across
in the art work so that all children can relate to him, or even better, want to
be like him. Captain Green loves nature and does his best to protect the
planet. He shows everyone ways that they can help save our seas and empowers us
all to do our bit. Afterall, “you don’t need superpowers to save our seas. It
just takes a super human!”
I enjoy visiting schools
and discussing this topic with children and hearing their bright ideas for
saving the seas. Children can and want to make a real difference from a very
young age. As I read, I see children connect emotionally to the story. There is
one illustration in particular, where Captain Green is
comforting Dolphin after saving him, that always elicits the saddest little
faces looking up at me. But to quote the film, The Plastic Ocean, “from
knowing comes caring, and from caring comes change.” The story ends with a
positive message about solutions and team work.
I sincerely hope that if we all make some small changes in our
daily lives, we can make a big difference to ocean pollution and the well-being
of our sea creatures. It's not too late.
Keep It Green!
Evelyn
Evelyn Bookless
BIO:
Evelyn Bookless grew up on a farm in the west of Ireland. She is
a nature lover, mum, teacher and writer. Her first time diving was at The Great
Barrier Reef. It blew her mind (but thankfully she made a full recovery!)
Following this she learned to dive properly in the Atlantic Ocean one winter.
She saw an octopus and was very happy even though it was very cold. Evelyn has
lived all over the world but her favourite place to be is in the ocean,
preferably somewhere warm, as she’s not as tough as she used to be. She dreams
about clean oceans and contented sea creatures.
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I'll definitely have to read this book. I'm a scuba diver like Evelyn, so I love the ocean and all its creatures!
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks for stopping by Rachelle and for your comments! I always enjoy seeing you here!
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