Truth they say is often stranger than fiction. In this case it certainly is, but it also makes for a really cool children’s book.
Author, editor, and writing coach Joanne C. Hillhouse releases her latest children’s book, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure. Beautifully illustrated by Trinidadian artist Danielle Boodoo-Fortune, Lost! is inspired by the story of an Arctic seal which found itself in the Caribbean seas a few years ago. The book pulls children into a fun adventure about kindness and friendship that will leave them with a greater appreciation of our marine environment. Lost! includes a fun maze which gives children a chance to help the lost seal find his way home.
Kirkus Reviewers dubbed the book “appealing”, all the more so for being based on real life and praised it for giving children “a chance to learn more about the work of environmentalists and Caribbean sea life.” Kirkus Reviews
Marine educator, Carole McCauley, who has worked in both the Caribbean and the US, declared Lost! “A wonderful and inspiring story for all ages.”
In the book, Dolphin, much like his real life counterpart, the young male hooded seal Wadadli, finds himself stranded in the Caribbean Sea, and far from his home in the North Atlantic. Wadadli was rescued by the Coast Guard of Antigua and Barbuda, while the fictional seal, Dolphin, has a little help from a new underwater friend.
Award-winning author Joanne C. Hillhouse is the Antiguan and Barbudan author of The Boy from Willow Bend, Dancing Nude in the Moonlight, Fish Outta Water, Oh Gad!, Musical Youth, With Grace, and now Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure. Her fiction, non-fiction and poetry have been published in various Caribbean and international journals and anthologies. Joanne lives in Antigua and from there she freelances as a writer, editor, workshop/course facilitator, and writing coach; and runs the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize writing programme to nurture and showcase the literary arts.
Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure is published by CaribbeanReads Publishing.
Books are available at bookstores across the Caribbean and at online booksellers. Lost! is a reimagining of Hillhouse’s book Fish Outta Water which was published by Pearson Education in 2013. Visit www.caribbeanreads.com for details.
