Barnacle Bay

A debut graphic novel by Jana Curll, Barnacle Bay is a sweet little story about the ocean and the first in the Little Habitats series.

Crab is on his way out of the Bay when they run into Larva who’s looking for their perfect place in the area. Crab spends the day showing Larva around the Bay and introducing them to all of the creatures that call the ocean home, realizing that perhaps the Bay is a pretty wonderful place to live. 

Barnacle Bay is a pretty quintessential Canadian look at the ocean, specifically the Pacific Ocean found on the west coast of Canada. Clearly inspired by Ben Clanton’s Narwhal and Jelly series, Jana Curll takes the buddy graphic novel genre to a new level. This story is FILLED with puns and dad jokes and is so appealing for young readers. 

Throughout the story, Jana Curll introduces readers to new ocean species and provides lots of details for those who love to acquire knowledge. Each new group gets its own spread to share many different details about what makes these creatures special and unique and what makes them all part of the same group,

I also quite enjoyed the random interludes throughout the book that inject a little more humour and interest throughout, not that it was necessary by any means.

The art, also by Jana Curll, is joyful, colourful and alluring. Readers will not be able to resist the cute little cartoon faces and brilliant colours that make this book super engaging for readers of any age but especially emergent readers who have greatly benefited from the popularity of the graphic novel.