They all had glue and glitter glue to decorate their collages and the finished collages are gorgeous. Five weeks into our school year and this is a book I see read by pupils in the class every week in our reading area, with them pouring over the illustrations and loving turning the book round to dive deep beneath the waves to the ocean’s depths. Places in the world where names originated from – get a world map and plot where the names originate from. They will infer characters’ thoughts and feelings through freeze-framing, thought bubbles and diary entries. We’ve also had the most moving, beautiful message from adults saying how it has allowed the children in their life to open up and talk about different types of relationship.

Many picture books still only portray 'traditional' relationships, so any story that can help these children see or understand themselves better is OK by me, especially when it is as lovely as this one. The number of boys who loved that it was a Merman, and not a Mermaid was also telling, with large concepts around expected gendered behaviours beginning to be considered by some pupils as well. This experience has been fantastic primarily for the children, the school and also for me (professionally). In 1994 he won one of the New York Times's Ten Best Illustrated Books awards for his work on The Boy and the Cloth of Dreams (Walker). It's so important that little ones grow up and see their type of family set-up reflected in the books you share with them.The other story fills me with such hope – when a class I had taught found out I was getting married to a man they all cheered and clapped and were so pleased for me. I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to share this thought-provoking and magical book with a number of classes across a range of primary year groups recently. As the two meet, they feel a special connection, much to the dismay of Nen’s father Pelagios who creates a wild sea storm to protect his son and the ocean. I haven't charted out my visits for the summer term, but I'm sure there are several in the south) and thanks so much for being so fantastic!

For one activity pupils drew a scene from the book and taking inspiration from one of the pages, hid words describing the emotions the characters were feeling in their drawings. Meanwhile, his father, Pelagios, watches him leave the safety of their ocean home, to ‘ explore the world beyond his own‘.Liz helped me to re-frame the way I used this book, think about the language I used, and the way I talked about race within the context of the story. Each night, he sings to the sea and his words of hope are carried across the waves by the twinkling stars. In an era of much digitalised techniques, Mayhew's more traditional renderings create a highly individualistic style is immediately identifiable and filled with such warmth and love. When merman Nen comes across a lonely fisherman by the name of Ernest, the two begin a courtship that will see them having to overcome barriers to be together.

Nen’s father Pelagios warns his son to stay away from the world above, as humans are damaging the oceans. Hopeful’, ‘kind,’ ‘lovely’ and ‘beautiful’ are just a few of the words used by my current class to sum up Nen and the Lonely Fisherman by Ian Eagleton, illustrated by James Mayhew and published by Owlet Press. So, I wrote this story for the children who never see themselves in fairy tales and for the LGBT+ teenagers, who like me, continue to grow up feeling excluded from the literary space. Sam ‘got’ the book and what I was trying to achieve instantly and had lots of ideas about how to develop it. She was a primary school teacher too and always helped me and let me chat about my day and what had happened.Nen’s father is Pelagios of Greek origin meaning from the sea and Ernest is of German origin meaning serious and warrior. Ian Eagleton’s lyrical LGBTQ+ tale is gently inspired by The Little Mermaid, and creates a modern piece of inclusive folk lore that belongs in every school. Can you imagine – one of my favourite illustrators creating such a stunning world for a book I’d written!