Sunny the Shark by Remy Lai

Title: Sunny the Shark

Author: Remy Lai

Genre: Fiction, Graphic novel

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 30^th August 2022

Format: Paperback

Pages: 112

Price: $14.99

Synopsis: A heartfelt and hopeful early-reader, full-colour graphic novel series, featuring adorable animals surviving in the wilderness despite the perils of climate change. From the multi-award-winning creator of Pawcasso.

Hi! I’m Sunny and I’m a shark. I love cruising the ocean with my pilot fish friends, looking for food. But sometimes things in the water are not what they seem … Now a plastic ring is wrapped around my fin and it’s tricky to hunt. Can I break free before winter sets in?

This inspiring series offers the perfect introduction for young readers to the wonders and perils of the natural world – and how we can all do our part to protect it.

~*~

Sunny is happily swimming when she is caught by marine researchers and tagged so they can study her, and help her when they need to. She swims around with her pilot fish friends quite happily as they seek food. But then poor Sunny gets a plastic ring from a balloon stuck around her, and swims around for months until the marine researchers come to try and help her – but will Sunny get free before winter?

The third in the Surviving the Wild series takes place near Maine around 2019 and was inspired by a true story about another shark, Destiny, who was found in similar circumstances. In this story, we see Sunny fight to survive with the ring around her as her pilot fish friends stick with her and try to help her as much as they can. They follow whale songs to try and find food and are terrified of the presence of any boat – but Sunny’s hungry is too much and one day she might have to take the bait. Bright colours tell the story, until Sunny is in danger, and then much like the first two books, there are a few pages that are darker and in shadows, indicating a sense of hopelessness, but as always the ending is uplifting and gives readers tips on how they prevent this from happening to other sharks and marine life.

But there is always hope for Sunny, and I think this was the driving force. It propelled the story along, and showed that sometimes a good friend can help you, and that whether you are an animal or human, getting help is not always a bad thing, and hopefully this book will be exciting for fans of the series as well as new readers. Each book is its own story, so there is no need to read them in a specific order – choose the one that stands out to you and start there!

Remy’s new series is capturing topical issues around the environment, climate, and threats to wildlife, and shows that there are small things that we can all do to help – not everyone can do everything but we can all try to do something. Even if it is a small change in our own lives. These books are fun and informative, and really good to start a conversation with younger readers or readers of all ages about issues that affect the environment, and I love that Remy writes and illustrates her books – this makes them really special.