Volcano by Claire Saxby, illustrated by Jess Racklyeft

Title: Volcano

Author: Claire Saxby, illustrated by Jess Racklyeft

Genre: Non-fiction

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 1^st April 2025

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 28

Price: $24.99

Synopsis: Explore the fascinating world of an underwater volcano with award-winning picture book creators Claire Saxby and Jess Racklyeft.

Deep in the ocean, far beyond the reach of even the brightest sun, the earth quakes. Hagfish scatter and snailfish flutter. Lava pillows flash and fade, rumpling the seabed as a new volcano births a mountain. Where hot meets cold, a chimney forms. Here begins a colony of unexpected creatures. Other chimneys grow and cool, grow and cool, while the mountain stretches ever upwards. A rumble becomes a roar and the sea boils. Lava fireworks the sky. A new island is born.

More volcanoes erupt under water than exist on land. In the vein of Iceberg and Tree – combining deep scientific research, lyrical language and stunning illustrations – Volcano is the next exploration of the natural world from the CBCA award-winning team of Claire Saxby and Jess Racklyeft.

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Everyone thinks they know what a volcano is, right? But did you know that there are underwater volcanoes that can be home to all kinds of sea creatures?  It is estimated that there could be more than ten thousand underwater volcanoes, but how are they formed and how do they affect life under the sea with their many underwater eruptions? A new book from Claire Saxby and Jess Racklyeft will teach you all about underwater volcanoes, starting with the birth of a new volcano on the sea bed.

Everyone knows volcanoes spurt smoke and lava, but what happens when this happens underwater? What sea creatures emerge? And which ones scurry away from the lava-spewing mountain? In their latest educational picture book, Claire and Jess have brough the world of underwater volcanoes to life in a simple and easy-to-understand way for readers of all ages. From Claire’s text to Jess’s fabulous illustrations that bring the ocean bed to life in its dark corners, its vibrant sea life, and the chilling ocean that hugs it all.  It rises up though the ocean as sharks and turtles react to the changing world around them. Because nothing in nature is ever always the same. Things will always be different, and the ocean and its creatures will adapt.

Underwater volcanoes are just as destructive as ones on the earth, but their force causes different reactions as they emerge and explode from under the blue waves. This book also has a circular narrative, ending where it begins, and looking at what the underwater eruption has created above the waves. Nature is a wondrous and dangerous thing – it has many secrets, and books like this reveal so much about them, in creative and intriguing ways for readers of all ages. I knew about underwater volcanoes from QI, but this was the first time I delved into the life cycle of one and some of what they can do. How they affect the wider world is easily researchable on the Internet, because they can have certain effects beyond creating new life and new islands. The new life was the focus of this book, and it can spark conversations about what other wonders are below the waves that we may not know about.

This is another fantastic non-fiction picture book that explores the natural world and its wonders for younger readers, older readers, and everyone in between.