Nen and the Lonely Fisherman

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It’s a truly beautiful read, full of tenderness and emotion, a wonderful love story" @mrs_w_loves_reading Helps you understand yourself and others. It helps you to peek into other people’s lives and empathise with them. It helps you understand that, despite our differences, we have much in common. Nen's father Pelagios is furious. He doesn't want his son mixing with the people who were destroying his oceans. He causes a terrible tempest, during which Ernest's little boat is capsized and Ernest falls into the tumultuous waves of the sea. I have even talked the head into a little revamp of the library so that we can display them properly! This might make Nen sound like a book that preaches to its audience but Eagleton's prose succeeds in saying these things without ever resorting to moralistic posturing. The messages are there in the story but evolve alongside it - they are as much part of the action as everything else that is happening. The book is all the more powerful because of this - we don't need the author to tell us that Nen's and Ernest's love should be allowed because we see it for ourselves and wonder at those who are trying to make it stop.

When Julian spots three women in lavish mermaid costumes, it fires his imagination and all he can think about is becoming a mermaid himself – with a little help from his nana’s soft furnishings. One lovely way to explore identity with this book would be through the origin of names. Nen is a name of Egyptian origin that means ancient waters. Nen’s father is Pelagios of Greek origin meaning from the sea and Ernest is of German origin meaning serious and warrior. Names chosen with meaning and purpose by the author. For us, we were very aware that we wanted to show Nen and Ernest’s relationship in a tender, loving way but were nervous about depicting things like them holding hands. Our main concern was really how adults would react to this – all the children who have read our book have adored seeing a happy ending between two men. Whether you explore the names in your family or you are a teacher and explore the names in your class you can look at lots of things that may spark discussion: I wrote so many stories about mermaids as a child. And often got in trouble for not writing about anything else!A lovely, gentle story of friendship and love between a merman, Nen, and Ernest, the fisherman of the title, with a conservationist theme rippling throughout. Mayhew's light-dappled, tender illustrations are the perfect foil for Eagleton's quiet, well chosen words.” - The Guardian Five weeks into our school year and this is a book I see read by pupils in the class every week in our reading area, with them pouring over the illustrations and loving turning the book round to dive deep beneath the waves to the ocean’s depths. While on supply I was also able to link it to other expressive arts, using drama techniques and roleplay to delve deeper in to the characters through hot-seating and using freeze frames to discuss aspects of the story. These tied closely to discussions around identity, health and wellbeing, as well as child-parent relationships.

What message would this be giving to our children? Personally, I would be horrified to find an advisory label attached to this book. A modern adaptation of a classic ‘little mermaid’ tale, Nen and the Lonely Fisherman tells the story of a merman’s search for true love, sending a song of hope across the sea while a lonely, caring young fisherman named Ernest hopes to find warmth in his heart. As the two meet, they feel a special connection, much to the dismay of Nen’s father Pelagios who creates a wild sea storm to protect his son and the ocean. Can Nen save Ernest? There’s nothing explicit in the book. Spoiler alert – Nen and Ernest hold hands! Should we have a content warning each time a prince wields true love’s kiss on an unconsenting sleeping beauty! I think this would make for an interesting discussion point when exploring the text. Dreamily Co-created I am a mother to a 15 year old bi-sexual boy and while he has never struggled with his identity, I am sure that many children do, even those who are quite young. Many picture books still only portray 'traditional' relationships, so any story that can help these children see or understand themselves better is OK by me, especially when it is as lovely as this one.A lyrical, beautiful celebration of love, acceptance and faith, with a gentle message about how we treat our oceans, and each other. Text Rationale: Oh, so many! It’s probably best to ask what’s my favourite book right now, as it changes all the time. I love reading crime thrillers – a passion I think I’ve got from my mum. In terms of children’s picture books I love Dapo Adeola, Rashmi Sirdeshpande, David Litchfield and the Fan Brothers. I’m a huge fan of Jessica Love and ‘Julian is a Mermaid’, which made me gasp! I also love Abi Elphinstone, Ross Montgomery, Louis Stowell, Sophie Anderson, so I try and read a children’s book every week! An adventurous merman and kind fisherman find love and each other in this gorgeous update to the Little Mermaid story. While providing music cover to a number of classes I have made use of Nen and the Lonely Fisherman to provide opportunities for pupils to work in groups to create soundscapes that reflected different scenes in the book, drawing on the emotions of the characters and the clues in James captivating illustrations.

This three-week Writing Root begins with a treasure chest of mysterious objects which children explore and discuss to support them in making predictions about the story. The sequence of learning continues by exploring the text through a range of tasks which include reading skills, book talk, explicit grammar teaching in context, vocabulary building and shorter written outcomes. Children will make predictions and explore the themes of the text, before developing their understanding of the characters to support them to write a character description in the form of a lonely-hearts advert. They will infer characters’ thoughts and feelings through freeze-framing, thought bubbles and diary entries. Children will also develop their literary bank by exploring how to use language to change atmosphere and create deeper imagery through the use of different descriptive literary techniques. Finally, they will finish by writing their own version of Nen and the Lonely Fisherman, with twists to the original plot and characters and making comparisons to the traditional tale The Little Mermaid. Synopsis of Text: Thereafter, where might their secretive laughter, talking and dreaming lead? Is it possible that Nan’s father’s rage at his son might damage everything that Nen and the Lonely Fisherman are building? His power is infinite, it seems… Or might it be that Ernest, is somehow different and Nen will do anything to rescue his fisherman? With the help of her loving Nan, and her Uncle Tony and his husband Sebastian, Violet learns to face her fears and turn her whisper into a roar! It’s illustrated by Clara Anganuzzi and published by Lantana.A tender and powerful tale of longing and love between two men – one of whom lives under the sea! Nen is a merman, who finds Ernest, a lonely fisherman. But they come from two different worlds. Can they find a way to be together? Can they find their happy ending? There is a Spelling Seed session for every week of the associated Writing Root. Coverage: Word List Words The other story fills me with such hope – when a class I had taught found out I was getting married to a man they all cheered and clapped and were so pleased for me. A sense of shame and anxiety should never cloud the way we speak to children – they deserve to hear about our world and the many ways in which we love and live. Thanks so much Ian for taking the time to answer my questions. I love the book recommendations and ideas for developing libraries. I’m also in agreement, life as a dolphin does seem fun filled. Exploring Identity Through Names Winner of the inaugural Polari Children’s and YA Prize 2022, praised for being “important and radical”.

The best pieces of advice I’ve always been given are from my Mum .She was a primary school teacher too and always helped me and let me chat about my day and what had happened. Hopeful’, ‘kind,’ ‘lovely’ and ‘beautiful’ are just a few of the words used by my current class to sum up Nen and the Lonely Fisherman by Ian Eagleton, illustrated by James Mayhew and published by Owlet Press.

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Mommy it’s like we’re diving into the sea and we’re swimming deeper and deeper into the ocean where it gets darker and more mysterious. Floss – 4 years old I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to share this thought-provoking and magical book with a number of classes across a range of primary year groups recently. It is remarkably versatile and offers options to engage and link to many curriculum areas, as well as provide the opening for rich discussions on a range of topics.