AQUA BOY

A gentle story of family environmental stewardship.

Aaron and his sister, Angel, live by the ocean, where they and their parents serve as ocean guardians, volunteers who take care of the beach. Angel, a strong swimmer for whom the ocean is a second home, has nicknamed herself “Coral Girl,” but Aaron fears going underwater. Mom and Dad reassure him that one day he’ll be ready. Later, a big storm litters the beach with trash, which the ocean guardians clean up. The children fantasize about finding a way “to clean up the ocean for good”: with a huge vacuum cleaner, perhaps, or a robot fish. When Aaron finds an octopus stranded on the shore, Dad encourages it to wrap itself around a branch and puts it back into the water. Mesmerized, Aaron watches the octopus as it stares back at him. Aaron dons his goggles and goes underwater to watch his friend swim away. His fear banished, Aaron embarks on a new relationship with the ocean as he observes wildlife—and always keeps an eye out for his friend the octopus. Wilson-Max’s deeply saturated, thickly outlined acrylic paintings depict vibrant scenes of ocean life and effectively capture the love between Aaron’s family members, their passion for this coastal habitat, and their frustration upon witnessing ocean pollution. Aaron and his family are brown-skinned.

Certain to instill a passion for the ocean and its many wonders.