Hi I’m Natalie Newman I have just had my first book published that I co-wrote with my then 7 year old son Henry. Named Lark The Shark and aimed at children 2-8 years old.
Literature has been my passion as a child and adult too and my son also shares this love.
I have always been a shark admirer and was discussing with my son about how sharks get such a bad reputation. All they are doing is being at home in their ocean.
We were also discussing pollution in the environment which was Henrys homework topic for that week. I was shocked to learn that Henry was not being taught about water pollution, we googled it and Henry was shocked.
He said “ Mummy what can we do to help?”
And that’s when we thought of a friendly shark that would help clean up the Sea. From these discussion Lark was born and his journey began.Working with Henry was fun and exciting. We bounced ideas off each other and was a lovely bonding experience.
Grab your copy of Lark the Shark
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1. What is your favorite shark and why?
Our favourite shark is the Great white shark. It’s our favourite shark because it is so fascinating to watch. Wow to see such a big fish hunt and breech the ocean to catch its prey is an unbelievable sight.
2. What is one shark you would love to see/swim with?
We would love to swim with a whale shark and see how big it is in real life!!
3. Why did you want to write a shark book?
Ever since I can remember I have always loved sharks and my family are the same. It’s very sad to see what’s going on in the world at the moment with the shark population declining. Hunting sharks for fun, for their fins is making our biodiversity levels change and contributing to the degradation of important coral reefs.
We are also terrible saddened by the amount of human pollution entering our oceans. Killing Maine life through consumption, these were the reasons we wrote our book. To help educate children from a young age about shark conservation and water pollution. We hope Lark will be loved and change people’s perceptions of sharks.
4. Why do you want to help save sharks?
Sharks are an incredibly important fish, they are key to maintaining a healthy ocean ecosystem. They clean out the ocean of weak and sick animals. They keep other predators in check too.
Sharks need to be respected for the great fish they are and it would be devastating to have such an amazing fish be on an extinct list.
5. What is one thing you wish everyone knew about sharks?
When I do book reading sessions to schools I will always start by saying:
“Sharks get such a bad reputation from humans. All they are doing is being in their oceans. When we enter the ocean, we are entering their world. Just like in the jungle a tiger would be curious and want to know what we are doing there. We have to be mindful of this and respect their world.”
