Bloom

by Julia Seal

Once, the ocean was full of friends. Then a little jellyfish notices that things are changing–friends are disappearing! He sets out to discover the truth and learns that everyone has a part to play in protecting the careful balance of the ocean. “Bloom” refers to a substantial increase in jellyfish population that can be caused by climate change and pollution. In this beautifully illustrated, timely, and topical tale, the jellyfish band together to deliver an important message.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Environment, Graphic Novels, Storytime, Science Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

Published March 8, 2022

About the author

Julia Seal is an author-illustrator from a small village in England. She knew from the age of five what she wanted to do for a living – draw pictures! After studying Graphic Design and Illustration, Julia got a job making greetings cards, where she came home each day covered in glitter. After this, she managed to land her dream job of creating children’s books, and hasn’t looked back since. She’s illustrated more than 70 books over the past 9 years! Julia has recently started writing books and gets her inspiration from things going on around her. She keeps a little book of funny quotes and overheard snippets of conversations that often turn into stories. Her two children also provide endless inspiration.

Reviews

[Nina (struggling to people) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeous artwork! Wonderful message told in an engaging way… although maybe a little preachy.

[Hendrix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mommy got me this from her favorite store, Aldi! It was a great way to wrap up our trip to Hilton Head, where unfortunately, my Nana and Auntie A got stung by jellyfish! 🪼

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I agree with the message, and love the cute and colorful jellyfish, it seemed a little bit too much. I'm not saying it seemed like a parody of the book it was trying to be, but I'm not NOT saying that it seemed like a parody of the book it was trying to be, either.

But the jellyfish were cute.

And I don't want to coral reef to bleach out, or turtles to eat plastic bags or COVID masks. They should just be eating those cute jellyfish.

[☆ shae ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beware, a bunch of magnificent and adorable jellyfish are on the way 🌊🌊🌊

[Lia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found myself captivated by both the story and the art, making me appreciate the fragility of our oceans and our responsibility to protect them.

[virly · Rating 4 out of 5]

even though this is just a children picture book, adults should read this. this book will makes you realize what humans have done to the oceans.

[Brenna Hopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful illustrations and very educational. very sad to think about what is happening to the ocean.

[EILEENTHECOCKROACH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not gonna lie this was the hardest book i’ve had to read to a three year old and i struggled so much but the message was super cute about keeping our oceans clean #sheloveditsoinaturallydidtoo ☺️

[Maria Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated and a great message about not littering and protecting our environment and oceans. However the litter looks… so cute. The colorful flip flops and the bright soda caps… I wish the trash had been done in muted colors - even black and white - to stand out against the beautiful sea creatures and water.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars--This cute, colorfully-illustrated picture book stars Luna, a jellyfish who becomes distressed by the amount of pollution in the ocean, causing all her friends to vacate their coral reef home. Luna teams up with a "bloom" of other jellyfish to alert the human population to pay greater attention to what they're thoughtlessly tossing into the ocean.

Yes, it is a message book--and message books for kids are nothing new, despite the anger this title is generating in some reviews--but the message is put forward in an especially cute, gentle way...not too scary and very much age appropriate. I've found that those who are most outraged about the idea of kids learning about big issues also tend to get defensive when the topics are brought up in adult conversation. And children's ability to solve environmental problems is limited, but there are things they can do. It's never too early to start talking about not littering, for example. Kids, with their boundless energy and hopeful outlook, also quite frequently steer adults in the right direction! A child who learns about the environment might encourage their entire family to recycle or waste less electricity, etc. (I was quite the recycling warrior as a kid.) After all, it's their generation who will inherit the planet and have to live on it, for better or worse.

[Capn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once, the ocean was full of friends. But lately, things have been changing...

Environmental, ocean-wise content for kids about warming oceans with tons of plastic in them.

Some of the details are just a little too trite and spurious for my liking (predation of small reef fish shown as a happy game of chase with a large shark; manta rays in seine nets; bleached coral riddled with flip-flops, bottle caps, used cotton swabs, toothbrushes).

People who get upset with books like this must be unhinged. This is, unfortunately, not as hyperbolic as they'd like (ask anyone from the coast... you wouldn't believe what washes up, and how much more and more of it there is each year, too).

The message is accurate, whether those types above like it or not (they are powerless and hate it and psychologically incapable of bravery. Ignore them). The presentation in this book is a bit... too much, though. Jellyfish 'banding together' to wash up en mass on shores, to block marine hydroelectric plants, and fill fishermen's nets to "draw attention" to the crisis in order to promote change. Jellyfish.. to think they are smilingly beaching themselves to promote change (no suggestions given for the reader on what specifics they can do to help, I see), is a bit... well, not even morbid. Just... inaccurate and... well, okay - let's ASSUME there's a presence of mind and agency and these jellyfish are laying down their lives in desperation to get us to pay attention to the plight of the oceans. We're listening. WHAT CAN WE DO?! That's a more useful focus. The oceans have been in crisis since the mid-last-century. What we need is action, not more sloppy sentiment.

Lots of covid masks and plastic bags floating about, too. So... not subtle, and pushing into 'obnoxious' territory. It's just.. it's already been done. Established. What we can DO to ameliorate the damage is now critical, and this book is still stuck in the 'warning' phase of the 1900s. We're well past that.

Again, if people have a problem with the "messaging" here, then they should be noted - they're the fools on the wrong side of history who will be mocked for generations (pity their incalcitrant ways now and don't pay them any mind, is my approach).

But this is a ham-fisted repeat of a common environmental message, and as a biologist I just felt like the entire marine environment and specific (and general) threats to it were to cutesified as well. Let's move on to ACTIONS that can be taken. How about the little girl with the water-wings (useless and dangerous, but I disgress) decides to not use them because she doesn't want to contribute to more plastic in the world? Or the boy on the jet-ski takes up sailing instead, because no fossil fuels and more of a challenge to ride the wind anyway?

A MUCH better book which also deals with marine food-webs and stable biological systems is If You Take Away the Otter. And any person who has a problem with the narrative in that one should be directed to my boot. ;)

Edit: (I had this as a comment, but decided to shove it up here) - At first, I thought, "Alright, jellyfish and mass protest - they're trying to suggest some action", but when the jellyfish fill the nets (to the exclusion of the fish), the metaphor falls apart and it's just something that's (sadly) been happening in places of extreme eutrophication, etc.
It just wasn't a good BOOK. Or a clear MESSAGE. Again, this has been done better. Rocket Says Clean Up! has a much more useful take on this very same problem, though again beach clean-up is NOT the solution to plastic in the ocean in the first place (yes, I know much comes from the beach goers, but nurdles generally don't, for example).
The Lorax is hard to beat... ;)

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luna the jellyfish loves going on adventures, especially because she gets to return to the reef to share stories with her best friends. Over time, Luna’s companions begin to discover unusual new shell options and food that does not taste like they expect. And eventually, Luna returns from one journey to find that her friends are nowhere to be seen. As she sets out to search the ocean for her missing companions, Luna finds herself on a bigger adventure than she has ever experienced before, and the outcome of this journey may change the ocean forever. This beautifully illustrated picture book depicts some of the effects of human behavior and climate change on ocean habitats from the perspective of a jellyfish. Jellyfish are known as an indicator species, and the fact that so many jellyfish blooms have appeared in oceans in recent years is a loud message that something is out of balance in the world’s marine environment. Though this book is fictional and includes friendly faces and imagined dialogue among various sea creatures, the message it sends is very real. Together, the limited, dynamic text and the vivid, detailed illustrations invite conversation and reflection with each turn of the page. More is expressed through subtext than is overtly recounted in the narrative, encouraging readers to examine the story more deeply with every reading. Eye catching and heartfelt, this is an important and resonant addition to picture book collections, especially those for preschool-aged readers and their families.

[Beckiezra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art of the cover is slightly different (more muted) from what’s in the book (nearly fluorescent) so it wasn’t as magical as I’d imagined when I picked it up. It also wasn’t about what I expected, but that’s my own fault for judging a book by its cover and not reading the blurb about it. This is a book about ocean pollution and troubles caused by climate change though it’s more implied than stated as it just talks about balance and the jellyfish doesn’t seem to realize the plastic bags and shoes she talked to while searching for her friends weren’t actually quieter than average fish. I thought it was going to go with working together we can make a difference in ocean pollution, but no, the bloom just clogged things up, which is probably true to the level of impact actual jellyfish can have, but not really the lesson I’d want to use to motivate change. So it wasn’t really giving ideas for how you could help, just a warning that the jellyfish are coming for you. On page 28 all the kids are happy/excited to see the jellyfish at the beach; at least the adult in the picture seems concerned. Also all the jellyfish a couple pages later smiling as they’re killed in power plant intakes or nets…

[Maryanne Hollingshead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloom by Julia Seal is a picture book meant for the ages between 4-8 years old. I personally could not find any awards for this book as it a very new book. It is about a jellyfish who loves to go on adventures in the ocean, when one day she comes back to find all her friends missing. She sets out to find her friends to only run into plastic waste and what polluting does to ocean. Later she finds her best friend, a hermit crab and other jellyfish that make up a bloom to send a message to the humans about the ocean. This book was a little gem to find and is so cute. It sends out a very important message to us and it helps educates children about pollution. It also teaches children some scientific terms about jellyfish and the ocean, like how a blood of jellyfish means the temperature of the water is rising which is causing more jellyfish to increase as well. It is our natural warning message. You could also say it teaches children to learn the idea of protesting, as in the book they do a silent protest. I think it is a very cute and sweet book to teach children about the dangers that are happening. I gave it a 4/5

[Heidi Whurr · Rating 2 out of 5]

No. Just no. Why would anybody write this miserable garbage in a children's book? I don't want my 4 year old knowing about pollution, oceans warming up and coral reefs dying out. If I'd known it was like that, I'd never have read it to him. Let children be children. They get so few years to be free of this misery, why would you impinge on that? It's criminal, in my opinion, to try and rob a child of his or her childhood. As adults we are helplessly anxious about all of this and it's not like we can do anything about it. Why would anybody want to pass that onto a 4 year old? What difference could that child possibly make? The only reason I'm giving this book 2 stars instead of 1 is that the illustrations are cute. This is dangerous propaganda masquerading as a kids book. This is brainwashing. Stay well clear of this and don't read it to your children.

[Coco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love "Bloom" by Julia Seal. This week, we did a fun jellyfish activity, and I came across this book without knowing much about it—only that it had a cute jellyfish on the cover! Turns out, it's a wonderful story that beautifully emphasizes the importance of keeping our oceans clean and safe.

The children loved the story and were captivated by the colorful jellyfish illustrations. The story is engaging and gently introduces important themes about environmental responsibility, teamwork, and caring for nature—perfect for young children. It sparked great conversations and inspired the kids to think about how they can help protect our planet.

Overall, "Bloom" is a fantastic addition to any early childhood library. It combines lovely artwork, a meaningful message, and a fun story that children really connect with. I highly recommend it!

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The message is clearly about climate change however I think the tone of the book is off from the message-- while the last page references that jellyfish blooms are an indication of bad things happening in the ocean, the jellyfish that makes the announcement about the bloom made it seem like a celebration (rather than the harbinger that is it) that they'd be rallying. The upbeat nature of the majority of the story doesn't match the harshness of the message in the last few pages.

And I must really like the classic picture book style because this looked overly digitized both in illustration and font choice to feel moving in the way that it was supposed to.

I was more confused than anything.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

After's Luna's habit is destroyed, she and the other jellyfish participate in jellyfish blooms to call attention to the destruction of the ocean.

A note is included at the end that explains the importance of jellyfish as an indicator species.

The United Nations (UN) reported in 2020 that the world failed to meet all 20 the Aichi biodiversity targets agreed upon in Japan in 2010 to stem the destruction of wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems, which included protecting the world's oceans through preserving coral reefs and marine habitats and halting pollution, overfishing, ocean acidification, rising ocean temperatures, and costal development. Alas ...

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Want to present ocean pollution to young children, write a brief science title for the topic. I have read several recently. Giving the ocean creatures human expressions and having the storyline be overly preach does not mean the topic will be understood or children will take action. Also having the main jellyfish speak to the polluting items as if they are strange fish or silent jellyfish is confusing. Storyline and illustrations need improvement.
Personally I would check the 500’s in Dewey numbers for a very basic title on ocean pollution or jellyfish.

[Kris Reguera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fantastic author and illustrator read that soon there would be more masks in the sea than jellyfish. I would have cried, but she drew and wrote this wonderful, beautiful, educational, eye-opener of a book.

Did you know a group of jellyfish is called a bloom? And that they thrive in hot, polluted waters?

In Bloom, Luna loses her friends and starts noticing a few changes. Especially a lot of weird “fish” the tides are bringing. The result is a story simple enough for the youngest but so powerful, it should be in every single classroom.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only were the illustrations in this book captivating, but it touched on environmental issues in such a unique way! I hadn't thought about how climate change might effect the jellyfish population, or really any animal population! This is a great book for teachers to utilize for a science lesson, or parents!

[kepik ijo · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUCH A PRETTY BOOK!! for a jelly fish fans like me, i enjoy this book a lot! the illustration also so pretty, i love everything in this book. tells about a jellyfish named luna, luna have a lot of friends at the sea, terus tiba-tiba temannya hilang dan luna cari temannya. this book remind me to keep aware about the living things at the sea.

[H. Givens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just feel like the messaging is a little confused. "Look at all these adorable beautiful jellyfish and how great it is for them to take mass action!" but then at the end to explain that seeing so many jellyfish blooms is actually a bad sign, not a good one. Toddlers at the right age for this book can't generally grasp "Jellyfish good! But also jellyfish bad!" in a meaningful way.

[Emelisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations were fantastic. Very colorful. The message was short and simple to save the ocean from pollutions. The jellyfish go on an adventure to the beach to let people know that the ocean is in trouble and in the end, people start to clean up the ocean. I think somewhere along the way we stopped thinking of trying to save the earth after cartoons like Captain Planet stopped airing on tv.

[bukutigatulip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book since I saw its cover. 100 points to Seal's lovely illustration! The message is clear, Seal tells global warming with a friendly approach to children. Some of the lines are heartwarming, too. I hope to read more children books that talk about global warming ^^

[ey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My little sisters were so angry that they heard i have some new books but they didn't have any. So i found one for them.

Bloom have very cute and beautiful illustrations, it came with great message for humans too! My lil sis lovin' it so much hahaha.

Bloom saved the day!

[v · Rating 4 out of 5]

lovely picture book with vibrant colors and cute illustrations, it sends off a message in a super fun and easily digestible way (i mean, of course, it's a book for children. but still. i loved the method of storytelling). save our oceans

[Kiley Stewart]

If you are looking for a book that can introduce/ explain the important topics of climate change and pollution this is an amazing book to have in your classroom! This book can be a helpful way to begin addressing these important topics through literature as well as targeting a young audience.

[Sarah Mismash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really beautiful artwork, educational story — I honestly would have loved to have seen more info/research at the back of the book about jellyfish, blooms, ocean pollution etc (like the back of Baby Bat Bedtime) but enjoyed it! Great book for summer

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently watched a documentary on jellyfish blooms and how it’s negatively affecting the fishing industry in Japan. I really liked the colorful illustrations and the environmental message of this book. It gets its point across while still being engaging for children.