Sunday, October 21, 2018

The Great Barrier Thief


Children's Book Has Hopeful Message


Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

The Great Barrier Thief, the new children's book by Dr. Sue Pillans, takes children and adults into another world under the sea while drawing attention to the need to protect Australia's Great Barrier Reef.


A labor of love that took Pillans (and her alter-ego Dr. Suzi Starfish) many years to write and illustrate, it "offers messages of hope and how together WE can help protect and save the Reef by cooling things down right away."


The Aussie marine ecologist and artist says she has "always been drawn to the ocean and I just love sea-ing the living colours of our Reef whenever I’m lucky enough to visit them."


Unfortunately, she has also been witness to the bleaching of the world's coral reefs, a process in which they turn white, losing their vibrant hues as the algae and other nutrients within them die due to global warming and environmental changes.


This endangers all the fish, lobsters, clams, seahorses, sponges, sea turtles and thousands of other types of sea life that depend on the reefs for survival.


And, so Pillans' tale begins, as a feisty fish named Anthia sees the changes happening in her Great Barrier Reef home and sets out to find the thief who is stealing its colors and get them back.


Working from home in her "happy place" art studio/laundry room, Dr. Pillans brought her story to life while her "creative companions" Jack, the Great Dane, and Westie Mr. Fergus cheered her on.


The book's publication couldn't have come at a better time - 2018 is the International Year of the Reef.  

   


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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given. 


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