Little Horses (Deborah Kelly, illus Jenni Goodman, Wombat Books)

Deborah Kelly’s Little Horses opens with a beautiful, graceful scene of seahorses living in harmony with other marine life in their ocean habitat. The jewel-coloured seahorses live a peaceful life in the clear water as they cling to seaweed and look for food. The waves are a gentle swirl of blues, echoing the movements of the tides. Disaster strikes when a storm breaks the coral and washes the seahorses away from their home. Clinging to each other, the seahorses find themselves in a barren underwater landscape until humans install a mesh crate, prompting the growth of corals and sea grasses. In many of Jenni Goodman’s illustrations, humans can be seen in the background or a breakout bubble scuba-diving on the reef, upset at the storm’s devastation or placing the new home for the seahorses. Here, humans are not the destroyers of the environment, but instead they help to renew it. The seahorse facts at the back of the book (highlighting what fascinating animals these seahorses are) and the true story of ‘seahorse hotels’ are great additions, which may inspire future marine biologists. Little Horses is a gentle story of conservation and habitat rehabilitation that will provide solace and hope to primary school–aged children anxious about climate change.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Fay Helfenbaum is a freelance writer and editor and was a bookseller for five years. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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