Follow the story of a tiny coral planula floating through the ocean looking for the perfect place to settle and become part largest coral system in the world – the Great Barrier Reef.

This book will feed the curiosity of the youngest of readers who are:

• keen to know how the world works
• fascinated by nature 
• enjoy learning new information

The story is carefully written for children learning to read, with additional factual captions for more advanced readers. 

And here’s the WOW-factor – a large fold-out map of Australia at the end with diagrams and a fun I-Spy game to take children back into the book to find and identify animals in the pictures.

Tiny Floating Coral is part of the Start Small, Think Big series of science-based picture books:

• Aimed at children aged 4 to 8
• Covers KS1 primary science subjects that children learn at school 
• High-quality educational content, beautifully illustrated

Tiny, Floating Coral explores the life cycle of coral and the coral reef habitats that are under the most urgent threat from climate change. The book explores what coral is, how it grows, the different species, and how they form underwater cities teeming with life. It shows their importance to marine biodiversity and the threats that they face from the effects of global warming and non-native species. 

Each book in the series is set in a different habitat and part of the world:

Small, Sparkling Raindrop (Southeast Asia/wetlands and the water cycle)
Small, Speckled Egg (polar regions and the life cycle of an Arctic tern)
Little, Brown Nut (Amazon rainforest and the life cycle of a Brazil Nut tree)
Tiny, Floating Coral (Great Barrier Reef and the life cycle of coral)
Fluffy, Flying Seed (meadowlands and the life cycle of a dandelion)
Small, Shiny Dung Beetle (African savannah and the life cycle of an insect)

Build your own life cycle library with this series, a brilliant addition to any home or school bookshelf. 

Printed on FSC paper from sustainable forests.

There is so much to learn and enjoy packed into each of these books, showing how essential high quality non-fiction texts are for young children to feed and inspire their natural curiosity about the world around them. The fact that these also offer plenty to interest older children- and adults- make them perfect for sharing and encouraging discussion with others.

These books are delightful and really need to find a home in every primary school.

A fascinating and extremely informative series.

The life cycle of coral is complex and quite different from that of creatures with which children may be more familiar. Auld has done a good job of explaining coral simply and building young readers’ understanding of their life cycles. A final four-page foldout includes a map and a diagram of the life cycle. Scarlatte’s accurate, detailed images deserve careful attention; the drawings and maps and their clear labels add to the information value of this clever presentation. Educationally sound and engaging.

And from the moment a child opens the stunning cover of this new book, with its alluring peep-through hole, they will be transported to the world of coral reefs, a habitat which is under the most urgent threat from climate change, and where they will learn a host of fascinating facts.

Following a tiny coral planula, this book gives an insight into the interesting life of coral as it becomes a part of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The illustrations would attract younger children however, the non-fiction aspect would also interest older children (and adults).

Mary Auld is an award-winning writer of children's information books, most notably How To Build an Orchestra with the London Symphony Orchestra. Mary Auld is a pen name for Rachel Cooke, former Editorial Director at Hachette and an honorary fellow of the English Association in recognition of her work in children's non-fiction.

La Scarlatte creates delicate hand-drawn botanical and animal designs. Her detailed compositions are used for advertising, packaging, textiles and books. She lives in the Netherlands with a curious toddler, an Italian partner and a red-haired cat.

Kirsten Golding, Dr Sally Keith and Dr Lisa Boström-Einarsson experts in coral reel systems from around the world advised on the book.