Children holding a painting of Bizzy the Blenny at the Chesil Centre © Marc Smith
Dorset Wildlife Trust’s (DWT) Chesil Beach Centre will be hosting the launch of a new children’s book called ‘Bizzy the Blenny and the Treasure of the Fleet Lagoon’, written by local artist, Nicola Dennis and Chesil Centre officer, Marc Smith.
The book will be launched at the centre on Wednesday 27 August, where Bizzy will be making a special appearance for a book reading at 1pm, and Nicola will be available to sign books and talk about her art. Afterwards there will be the opportunity to join a ‘Seashore Detectives’ low tide walk at 1.30pm, to look for the characters in the book, like ‘Bizzy the Blenny’ and ‘Lesley the Limpet’.
The story, which follows Bizzy’s adventure as he looks for treasure, is a fun way for children to learn about the importance of marine conservation, and the marine life that can be found in the Fleet Lagoon. 100% of the profit DWT makes from the book goes back into vital conservation work in Dorset, which includes protecting marine life.
The bright and engaging pictures were created by local artist, Nicola Dennis, who will be displaying the original one-off silk paintings at the book launch. Nicola said: “My inspiration for the illustrations came from a life-long interest in the marine environment. I have created the images for the book using traditional silk painting techniques, which allows the characters to be bright, fun and informative. Art is a wonderful way to draw attention to conservation issues, and the beauty that we may lose if nothing is done to protect it.”
The Fine Foundation Chesil Beach Centre Officer, Marc Smith said: “It has been such a pleasure working with Nicola on this book. Her creative mind and artistic talent has helped bring the spectacular marine life around Chesil and the Fleet Lagoon to life through art. The characters in the book were inspired by the wildlife that we find on our low tide walks and that can be seen on our underwater camera in the centre. We hope children and families enjoy sharing Bizzy’s story.” The book will be available in the Chesil Beach Centre shop for just £4.99 and online at www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/shop from Wednesday 27 August.
The Chesil Centre will also be hosting a book launch on Saturday 6 September at 2pm for local author, Laura E James, who will be signing and talking about her new romance novel, “Follow me, follow you,” featuring Chesil Beach. She will be accompanied by three other local authors, Carol Hunt (author of the children’s books ‘The Portland Chronicles’), Kate Kelly (author of science fiction novel ‘Red Rock’) and Kathy Sharp (author of fantasy novel ‘Isle of Larus’), who will all be available for readings, book signings and sales, and an afternoon of chat about their books and the local area which inspired their work.
The book readings are free to attend and the ‘Seashore Detectives’ walk costs £2 per person. For more information about events at the Chesil Centre, please phone 01305 206191.
