Super Questers: The Case of the Angry Sea by Lisa Moss and Dr. Thomas Bernard; illustrated Amy Willcox (QuestFriendz, 2024)

Lilli, Bea and Leo journey to Questland to research ideas for a machine to clear up the rubbish in their local river. Upon arrival in Questland, the trio discover that the Queen is in urgent need of their help as the sea is in a state of fury and unrest and only they can help. Lord Grumble has teamed up with new mischief maker Captain Blackwaters and his pesky pirate-bots on a terrifying tanker. They are tearing through the waters of Questland polluting the sea and destroying the marine life habitat. How will they stop the dastardly duo and calm the angry sea? Join the SuperQuesters in their exciting new marine adventure to save the sea from pollution and rescue the marine life of Questland including otters and narwhals.

There's lots to explore in this latest installment of the SuperQuesterz series and just as much to admire. First off, there's the theme of this fourth volume: marine pollution. While the story has a light touch on the subject, there's other asides that draw attention to the seriousness of things that are happening in our seas right now. With just the right level of detail, these prompt deeper thinking from the young audience about the real-life parallels of the story.  

The puzzles in the book all focus on another facet of STEM learning: coding. An ideal audience would include some bright Year 1 children, with Years 2 and 3 getting most benefit. With this readership in mind, the puzzles range from spatial awareness skills to some complex WHEN/THEN functions, but nowhere is it felt that coding is a tricky 'specialist' area; in fact, many of the puzzles appear in very familiar guises...just with an added layer of computational thinking! It's very sensitively done with a real appreciation and understanding of the younger audience. 

As a whole, The Case of the Angry Sea reads like a fun, puzzle-laden picture book story but there's also a glossary included, covering many complex coding terms, which helpfully defines some of the terms used in the book, and clarifies the purpose of some of the problems (e.g. 'mental rotation' is the skill lying behind Puzzle 1 in the book). So, along with the maps, charts and diagrams to be found in the pages, there's an awful lot of non-fiction reading skills being introduced and sharpened too. 

The fun doesn't stop with the end of the book, either. There's a brilliant downloadable activity pack which explores other areas of coding, language and mathematics, from tallying recyclable materials, to designing an anti-pollution poster to raise awareness of the problem.

Overall, the series is shaping up to be a real asset to Key Stage 1 classrooms everywhere. STEM subjects should always be a source of excitement and challenge and, with the Super Questers on board to help, children everywhere will find new and renewed pleasure in discovering the world around them. 

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Super Questers: The Case of the Angry Sea, published by QuestFriendz is out today, 14th March 2024, from all good bookshops.