Little Pago is an attractive and engaging picture book for children aged about 2 to 5 years written and illustrated by Lauren Briggs, an Australian mother of four. Published in 2021, the book highlights the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean, which presents a critical threat to our marine life. The author explains her inspiration for the book here:

I began to research Australian sea turtles and was dumbfounded by the overwhelming statistics that only 1 in 1,000 sea turtles live to adulthood. Six of the seven sea turtles found in Australian waters are listed as vulnerable or endangered. 

Little Pago is the story of is a little marine turtle who inhabits the coral reef of the Australian coast. As he goes searching for food, he encounters danger in the form of plastics in the water, but his friends help him out and when he mistakes a plastic bag for a jellyfish and can’t get himself free, a young girl seeing that he is in trouble rescues him and returns him to the ocean.

What I liked about this little picture book is that although it focusses on a serious problem, it doesn’t do it in a scary way for little children. In small ways even a child can make a difference if they are taught what they can do to help, and Little Pago does this in a gentle way.

The Little Pago website has some resources to use with this book that would suit children in the Primary years K-2. There are also some craft suggestions that could be fun with younger children, too.

Linking to AusReading Month 2022