Colin the Crab

Colin the Crab – a book review

 

Colin the Crab

Having a fascination of nature I can vividly remember rock pooling with my family when I was child and Gone Crabbing have taken me back to my youth recently.  The Norfolk based, family business features a whole host of products with a rock pool theme.  We received a lovely bundle of products from them; which gave me the chance to teach Monkey more about the seaside. Colin the Crab

Colin the Crab is one of the main characters featured across the range of Gone Crabbing products.  We haven’t taken Monkey rock pooling yet, it’s something I really need to rectify this year.  He’s seen crabs and starfish at various Sea Life centres, but not in the wild.  He’s only seen me eating mussels too.

So it was time to read the lovely 18 page, Pop-Up book, Colin the Crab.

Colin the Crab

Colin the Crab is written by the founder of Gone Crabbing, Susie Mason, and illustrated by Robert Crowther, who  is well known for his pop-up books.  We are introduced to Colin the Crab and his two best friends – Sally the Starfish and Mike the Mussel and their home in the rock pool.

Colin the Crab

Monkey couldn’t wait to get started with this book.  Unlike a lot of pop up books that we have, there is a lot of writing in Colin the Crab.  It’s a book that will keep Monkey occupied for some time to come.

We follow the three friends on a lovely hot day at the seaside, they are minding their own business when disaster strikes.  Two children come along for a bit of rock pool fun and whisk Sally and Mike away in their bucket.  Poor Colin is sad, thinking he has lost his friends forever, and worrying about how they will cope in a bucket on a very hot day.

I like the message behind the Colin the Crab book, as children learn about exploring nature, but also about protecting it.  The book reinforces something I am always telling Monkey when we go on mini beast hunts.  It’s fine to look at animals carefully, but you should always return them to their habitat.  We also learnt that sea animals need fresh seawater to survive and to keep them from getting hot.  We also talked about the fact that when we do get to go rock pooling, Monkey should only look at a couple of sea creatures in his bucket at any one time.

I love books which leave Monkey asking lots of questions – this book certainly did that. We talked about the different animals, how they moved, what they ate and where they liked to live.  I’ve not seen starfish in this country, but saw many of them when I visited Mauritius many years ago, beautiful animals.

Colin the Crab was released last month and sells for £7.99 which I think is good value for money for this story.  You can buy it direct from Gone Crabbing or through one of their stockists across the country.

Why you are buying the book, why not treat yourself too.  I can recommend the Totally Clawsome Soap.  Wild Lettuce is a new idea for me, but it smells lovely, and is one of a range of soaps available.  Would make a lovely gift.

Colin the Crab

As would this Gone Crabbing mug, perfect for a lovely cup of tea or coffee.

Colin the Crab

If you’re looking for some lovely clothes for the family, Gone Crabbing also have some great t-shirts and hoodies.  I really like the message behind this one.

Colin the Crab

disclaimer:  we were sent the items mentioned in exchange for an honest review.

4 thoughts on “Colin the Crab – a book review

  1. I love the idea of this book and the illustrations are wonderful. Will definitely check this out as it would be a good pre-activity for the beach this year. Great review x

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