I Love You, Blue Kangaroo!

Product Information

One day at sea, a lighthouse keeper is caught in a storm and saved by a whale. When he goes to look for the whale, he finds it has been affected by pollution. He wants to help his new whale friend.

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The text is simple and easy to read, but the message is critical. Our oceans are dying and the young will inherit this planet. They must learn to care for it and protect it. This books is a wonderful way to introduce this concept of saving the whales and the oceans, caring for the environment, cleaning up beaches, reducing plastic waste and instilling a deep love for the sea. Team Margot’s International Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Awareness Day will bust myths, raise awareness and bring hope to those desperately waiting to find a donor.”

This is such a sweet picturebook and a very good introduction to the damage we place on the creatures of Earth with our waste. Jonas is a lighthouse keeper who seems to love his work. One day, he sets off in his boat only to have it capsize in a storm. Who should come to rescue him but a great whale named Blue. Jonas adores his new companion but when he searches for Blue the next day, he is nowhere to be found. Every day, he looks forward to greeting Blue - until the one day when Blue is nowhere to be found. Alarmed, the boy dives into the water in search of his friend - and finds Blue laying listless on the ocean floor. Turns out that Blue swallowed a tummy full of plastic (a breakaway from the Pacific trash vortex, maybe?) and needs help flushing his system - and cleaning up his ocean home.

I Love You, Blue Kangaroo | Book reviews | RGfE I Love You, Blue Kangaroo | Book reviews | RGfE

We loved this idea of using an emotion word spy glass to help younger learners search in picture books for feeling and emotion words. It was inspired by the idea of using our ‘coggles’ to look for the different aspects of emotional learning in stories and other texts, but it makes the idea so much simpler by focusing on any content relating to a single aspect, or ‘cog’, at a time. This cute story is all about a boy and his new friend from the ocean, Blue. Blue is all down and truly blue and the boy seeks out to find why Blue is so Blue. It contains an important message that is geared to young children about the hazards of plastic waste in our environment, specifically in the oceans. Grocery bags, being the main thing in the whales mouth, was so sad to see as I know it’s reality.

Full disclosure: I received a free ARC for review through Library Thing's Early reviewers program.) If necessary you could introduce the idea by using the orange/green/red spy glass to look for orange/green/red things in the room/in a storybook etc. This would also be a way to include younger or less able children in a mixed learning group. Team Margot & NHS Blood and Transplant launch new primary school education programme: ‘Giving to help others’