Blair Northen Williamson is the author of the new children's picture book The Ocean Protectors: Colors of the Coral Reef. Her other books include Island Girls.
Q: What inspired you to write The Ocean Protectors: Colors of the Coral Reef?
A: I spent years working as a scuba diving instructor, so I have a deep, personal relationship with the ocean… literally! Over time, I started noticing the bleaching of reefs firsthand, and it stayed with me.
When there was demand for a second book in my climate fiction series, my husband was actually the one who suggested coral bleaching as the topic, and I was immediately hooked. I thought, what a powerful way for readers of all ages to visualize climate change, not through charts or headlines, but through the color of a coral reef.
Q: How did you research the book, and did anything especially surprise you?
A: I had really meaningful conversations with the directors at Plastic Ocean Project about coral bleaching, which was invaluable. I also read widely, dug into the research, and was very intentional about making sure the backmatter was clear and accurate.
I'm a storyteller, not a scientist, so I wanted a team of scientists to review my backmatter and references and essentially sign off that everything was as current and accurate as possible. Resources like NOAA were incredible throughout that process.
Q: What do you think Svitlana Holovchenko’s illustrations add to the book?
A: Svitlana’s illustrations are the book. They are so whimsical and detailed, she is such a talented artist.
Every single illustration is a hand-painted original watercolor, and I think that's what makes this book stand out so much in the children's literature space. Not many children’s picture books have watercolor illustrations anymore, and it really makes The Ocean Protectors stand out.
She has this incredible ability to catch your eye and draw you in, there is so much detail, and for a book about something as visually stunning, and heartbreaking, as a coral reef, that matters enormously.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: I really want readers to walk away curious! I want them to put the book down and immediately want to know more. I want kids to ask questions, raise their hands, look things up, and start thinking about the choices they make every day.
Coral bleaching can feel like this distant, overwhelming problem, but it doesn't have to. You are far more likely to care about and protect something you love, so I also hope this book sparks curiosity and that curiosity will in turn help readers fall in love with coral reefs and the ocean.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m working on edits right now on my middle grade novel, Moon Beach Rising, with my new agent Andie Smith at Creative Media Agency.
It has a big climate fiction hook centered around erosion on an island, so it's very much in the same spirit as my picture books, just with a longer runway to explore the story. I'm really excited about it.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I'm so excited to keep creating picture books that are fun, funny, and genuinely meaningful books that celebrate our ocean.
For me, spreading awareness about what's happening beneath the surface has never been about blame. It's about hope. It's about curiosity. It's about celebrating something so beautiful that it deserves to be protected.
Like I said before, you're so much more likely to fight for something you love, and I want every reader, no matter their age, to leave my books loving the ocean a little more than before.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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