The Sunday Shelf
๐ŸŒŠ

Ocean

Six ocean books, from busy and splashy to slow and quiet.

All of these are just suggestions. Swap in whatever your family already has and likes.

The six

The Snail and the WhaleJulia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler

A small snail sees the world from the tail of a whale. A longer read, around ten minutes.

Get the book โ†’
Hooray for Fish!Lucy Cousins

Little Fish swims past every kind of fish. Simple and bright enough for babies.

Get the book โ†’
The Pout-Pout FishDeborah Diesen & Dan Hanna

A gloomy fish spreads the pout around the ocean.

Get the book โ†’
I'm the Biggest Thing in the OceanKevin Sherry

A giant squid brags about being bigger than everything in the sea. Short, with a twist at the end.

Get the book โ†’
Commotion in the OceanGiles Andreae & David Wojtowycz

One rhyming verse per sea creature. Works just as well a few pages at a time.

Get the book โ†’
SwimmyLeo Lionni

A small fish and his school find a clever way to stay safe. Quiet and gentle to read.

Get the book โ†’

The rest of the week

ActivityHave a blue bath night. Add a drop of food coloring, bring in every sea creature they own, and narrate the reef together.
SongSing A Sailor Went to Sea. It comes with clapping, which is most of the fun.
Ask themIf you could shrink and ride on a snail's shell, where would you ask the whale to take you?

Want the planning done for you?

The Sunday Shelf is a Notion template that keeps track of every book you own and plans next week's shelf. Themes like this one rotate through on their own six-week cycle.

Get the Sunday Shelf template