Children's book 'Plastic Fantastic' to teach kids in Oman about pollution in seas

Oman Thursday 04/October/2018 10:52 AM
By: Times News Service
Children's book 'Plastic Fantastic' to teach kids in Oman about pollution in seas

Muscat: The launch of Lorena Veldhuijzen’s new fictional children’s book ‘Plastic Fantastic’ coincides with the recent launch of the Ocean Cleanup project in the Pacific. Meanwhile, Plastic Fantastic has its own unique launch: It is the first to be published on a special platform geared to cater to people with dyslexia.
Veldhuijzen started her international tour in Dubai, at the Horizon English School, recently; where she kicked off the launch of 'Plastic Fantastic'. Lorena also visited the A'soud Global School (AGS) in Muscat as part of her book-tour. The Horizon English School and AGS in Muscat are both managed by the Al Najah Education Group. Lorena spent the day with Grade 3 and 4 children at AGS, helping them with their writing and illustration.
Plastic Fantastic is about Zero, an octopus without arms. Together with Hero, a fishstick who escaped from a deep fryer on a cruise ship, he has an adventurous journey to Plastic Fantastic where he hopes to get eight new arms. Ultimately, these arms will help Zero to solve the problem of the plastic soup, much like the Dutch inventor and ‘ocean savior’ Boyan Slat who launched his Ocean Cleanup ship from San Francisco recently.
Plastic Fantastic’s author emphasizes that the book not only deals with this current theme, but also touches on another important topic: authenticity. This makes Plastic Fantastic a multi-layered children's book that covers a number of contemporary issues with humour but without being judgmental.
When she wrote this book years ago Lorena could not have predicted that there would be an initiative to tackle the problem of plastic in the oceans. She enthusiastically supports the project and agrees that the timing of the launch could not have been any better. A percentage of the Plastic Fantastic proceeds will be donated to the Ocean Cleanup project.
Plastic Fantastic is Lorena Veldhuijzen’s third book and the first one to be published in English. Besides being a children's book author, she is a writing coach and encourages young and old to write from the heart.
Plastic Fantastic, published in both Dutch and English, will also be available on the internationally acclaimed Dyslexie Font platform. The Dutch author, who debuted in 2012 with a bestseller in the Dyslexie Font, is the first to use this new platform.
From Zero to Hero is a unique program, created by the author herself in which children are ‘writing down’ their own hero and story, by looking at their own talents.
The author’s visit to the AGS, included an assembly attended by children and parents. During this assembly a presentation on Plastic Fantastic was made by the author and a selection of children who attended the workshop.
Following this a limited edition of Plastic Fantastic was made available for purchase; with parents having the opportunity to purchase the book, have it signed by the author and take photos together with the author, the book, and their children.