Blue: Dragon of the Sea

Blue: Dragon of the Sea

Aleesah Darlison

Tamlyn Teow

Wombat Books, 2026

32pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9781761112706

Despite its title, this is NOT the story of a winged, fire-breathing dragon who has fallen into the sea and found a home there. Rather it is the story of another of the almost-unknown creatures that live beneath the surface of the sea. With a name pronounced “nudi-brank” and meaning “naked gills”, nudibranchs are probably as far removed from those mythical flying creatures as you can get because they are commonly called sea slugs, come in all shapes, colours and sizes, and there are over 3000 different types. 

Blue, in particular, is a blue glaucus or Glaucus atlanticus and between Darlison’s lyrical text that flows just as Blue does, and Teow’s imaginative, colourful illustrations, young readers with a fascination for what’s under the waves can learn about these little creatures that don’t have brains but do have a special trick for keeping themselves safe.

But as well as being “tiny ballerinas of the sea”, with their rapid life cycles, are especially sensitive to changes in their environment, making them invaluable indicators of broader marine ecosystem shifts, particularly those induced by human activities and climate change and so there is a citizen science project for those with a deeper interest to become involved in, particularly those with access to the Great Southern reef from Kalbari in Western Australia, around southern Australia, to Caloundra in south-east Queensland.

If ever there were a need to maintain a robust non fiction print collection, particularly for younger readers, then this is the sort of book that is a role model.  How many adults have heard of these tiny little creatures, let alone children? (As a former scuba diver, I had but…) So when you don’t know what you don’t know, how do you know to look for them online?  Serendipitous discoveries of books like these with their intriguing covers and titles, enticing illustrations and accessible texts as young readers browse displays or the manageable collection of print resources (as opposed to a zillion unsorted websites)  can spark a thirst to know more and perhaps establish a dream for the future.  

Whether it’s punk turtles, endangered rainbow birds, bouncing woylies, captivating capybaras, or any of the other fascinating species that Darlison has woven stories around to encourage young readers to celebrate the natural world with her and to better understand the interdependence of the ecosystems and the threats they face,  each story offers something new to investigate as the often-unseen world is brought into focus.  And awareness is the first step in appreciation and ultimately, conservation.