Fish ‘N’ Chips

In December 2006, The Ocean Project chose Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson as its Seas the Day Ocean Book of the Month. I didn’t think much of it at the time and just reported it to you in my newsletter. Recently, I spotted the book at my son’s school while volunteering and something about it caught my eye and I made the connection a few days later. My son then checked it out of the school library for me and I gave it a try. I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable book and a worthy read for any age.

The gist of the story is that Aunt Etta, Aunt Coral, and Aunt Myrtle are getting older and feel they need help caring for their island which just happens to be a sanctuary for both real and mythical creatures like mermaids, selkies, and more. The Aunts decide that they will kidnap some children because adults cannot be trusted! The book is intended for children ages nine to twelve. I could barely put the book down!

Forcing my adult (and Mom!) way of thinking out of my head and diving into the book, I found myself quickly engulfed in the story of the Aunts, the children Minette and Fabio, the cell-phone addicted Lambert and his evil, money-hungry father, the beauty and peace of the island, and the adventure that unfolds. Forgetting that my Mom mind would be screaming about the kidnapping of any children, I looked at the book as my eleven year old son might … that anything and everything is possible and in a book, I’ve always believed, anything and everything can be true!

So why did this book end up as the Seas the Day Ocean Book of the Month back in December 2006? Simply because of the underlying message that the ocean and it’s wondrous and beautiful gifts must be protected from people who care nothing for it unless it can bring them personal gain and are willing to destroy so much to reach that gain. The environmental message is not beaten into the reader with a club or screamed at them at the top of one’s lungs. It is simply and quietly relayed to you through the eyes of two children and weaved throughout the book.

It was a good book, a good story, and a good read. I’d recommend it to any kid who likes fantasy books, and any adult who’d like to have a book to share with their kid as well as a rather subtle way to get the importance of ocean conservation deep down inside a kid where it really counts!

Related Links:
The Ocean Project
Seas the Day Ocean Book of the Month December 2006
Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson (at Overstock.com)

This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.