The Case of the Singing Ocean

The books in “A Gumboot Kids Nature Mystery” series are based on episodes from the award-winning CBC Kids program The Gumboot Kids. According to the show’s website, “filmmakers Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford [who are also husband and wife] set out to make the kind of TV show they'd want their children to watch. They combined their love of nature with the yearning they felt to slow down and connect with each other and the natural world in a more meaningful, heart-centered way.”

The Gumboot Kids are a pair of rubber boot-wearing anthropomorphic felt mice, Scout and Daisy. In each title, one of the friends poses a nature-based mystery that needs to be solved, with that mystery being identified by the book’s title. One of the mice pair presents the other one with three clues which are to be used in solving the mystery. When the duo put the clues together and come up with what they believe to be the correct solution, they confirm their conclusion by consulting, and quoting from, a book on the appropriate subject. The two then pause for “a mindful moment” in which they reflect on their experience and, to some degree, generalize their learning. The final four text pages are evenly divided between “Field Notes” and “Nature Craft”, with the former containing a glossary and/or factual information appropriate to the book’s subject matter. The three-step “Nature Craft” also connects to the book’s subject matter. Depending upon the age and level of interest of the listening child, the adult reader of the book may choose not to share these pages as their reading level is higher than the rest of the text.

The TV show is a combination of stop-motion and live-action, but the books’ full-colour illustrations are stills from the stop-motion, two-to-five minute nature mystery portions of an episode. As such, the illustrations are full of details to be examined, and the posed rodent friends do have a real appearance of life to them. The three mystery clues are presented not only via the text but also visually usually via closeups of sketches one of the friends has made in a field notebook. A strong hint to the mystery’s solution is presented on the books’ covers via an object under a magnifying glass and the caption “LEARN ABOUT”.

In The Case of the Singing Ocean, the raincoat clad pair are taking a nature walk on an ocean beach. Scout creates the mystery when he observes: “Well, it just got a lot noisier here. We may not be able to hear the ocean singing.” To assist them in solving the source of the singing, Scout presents Daisy with three clues from his notebook sketches: a cliff, a tail and a splash. The answer? A humpback whale, with the answer being confirmed by their trip to the library. One of the “Field Notes” pages provides a labelled image of a humpback whale with the whale’s five major parts being defined in a glossary. The other page contains five colour photos of other whale types along with additional factual information about whales, including: “Whales live in every ocean and they are the largest animal on Earth.” The “Nature Craft” suggests that children make a sand art picture, using paper, glitter, glue and watercolor paints or felt-tip pens.

Instead of just passively providing youngsters with science facts, the books in “A Gumboot Kids Nature Mystery” actively engage young readers in their learning. Overall, this series is an excellent age-appropriate introduction to a number of science-related topics.