Below the Ocean: Keeping Our Sea Friends Safe

Below the Ocean: Keeping Our Sea Friends Safe is a fictional children's book, richly illustrated by international award-winning artist Lily Liu. The book is about a young seal, Sophia the Seal, who becomes entangled in the string of a helium balloon. She learns from her teacher, Daniel the Dolphin, that the ocean was once clear and clean, but because of garbage and plastic pollution, the ocean needs our help now to keep it clean and safe for our sea friends. Sophia and Daniel take the balloon to Olivia the Octopus, an artist, who recycles ocean garbage and uses it in her artwork. The book encourages children and their parents to be environmental stewards by picking up garbage at the beach and recycling plastics. The book also discusses ocean gyres, that have become large garbage patches filled with plastics that impact sea life.

Plastics have been on Earth for more than 70 years and in that time, we have created over 9 billion tons of plastic waste. Most plastics and other kinds of garbage are not recycled and end up in landfills and in our ocean. The vibrant colored illustrations and adorable characters, in Below the Ocean: Keeping Our Sea Friends Safe, captures our imagination as we address the issue of ocean pollution. Readers learn about ocean gyres, sea life migration, and what they can do to keep our sea friends safe.

Prior to being elected to public office, Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker started the not-for-profit organization Community Health and Environment Coalition, which advocated that our environment directly affects our health. She received many awards and citations for her environmental advocacy including Woman of the Year for Environment from the community newspaper. As a legislator representing close to 1.5 million residents, Sarah continues to focus on environmental issues, encouraging residents to get involved in keeping our ocean and our environment clean and safe. Sarah lives in Mt. Sinai, New York, where she has raised her three children and continues to work with residents, elected officials, scientists, and advocates on environmental issues.

Li (Lily) Liu is not only a highly educated and trained artist, she also teaches art and resides in France. She has been working with authors all over the world for over a decade. She is also the illustrator of best-selling books on Amazon including Her Body Can and Where's my House?: Sierra National Forrest, which have won the top Overall in Children's Books.