Inspired by her own childhood love of the ocean’s mysteries, Emily Greenhalgh, born and raised in Cranston, has created her own inspirational learning activity book for children with the hope of drawing out their own interest in the underwater world that covers the majority of our planet.

The book, which saw its official release on September 19, is an extension of very much alive part of Greenhalgh’s childhood desire to poke around in a tidepool and “see what’s going on in there.” Despite years of working in the marine science field she has never lost the spark of excitement and curiosity that brought her there in the first place.

“Growing up in Rhode Island we’d spend Sundays at the beach in the summer and that sort of thing,” she said. “I kind of never grew out of that. I went to URI and got my degree in Marine Biology, and I did that for a little while. I worked on commercial fishing boats as a fisheries observer. I worked in some labs and eventually I knew that I had to go back and get my masters or PhD in science and study one organism in ten square miles of ocean for the rest of my life, or I could do something else. So, I went back and got my masters in science journalism from Boston University. From there I’ve never really lost my love of the ocean.”

Having never grown out of wanting to be a marine biologist, Greenhalgh knew she wouldn’t be happy stuck in one spot and decided to carve out a space that would give her a chance to explore all the pieces of the ocean she could. As a science journalist she was able to explore a variety of areas of interest, mostly based around the ocean of course, until she was approached by Publishing Company Penguin Random House.

“I had done a lot of writing on marine biology and marine organisms and fisheries, how climate affects the oceans and the life and all the people who rely on it,” Greenhalgh explained. From that Penguin Random House found me because they had these two other series, ‘Fun with National Parks’ and ‘Fun with 50 States.’ They were looking for women to write ‘Fun with Oceans and Seas.’ Apparently I had carved myself out a niche as an emerging marine biologist science writer. So, I worked on that and I think it was great.”

Being a science writer, and having never grown out of her childhood thrill at the mysteries of the ocean, she was thrilled at the chance to pass that spark of excitement on to children today. In that vein, the book is focused not just on learning but on dynamic activities to help make its lessons engaging and applicable to kids in order to draw them in.

“It has a lot of fun facts, and it breaks them down while it talks about each of the oceans,” Greenhalgh said excitedly. “There are activities from crosswords to fill in the blanks, and my favorites, which are ‘crack the codes’ where you have to assign a number to each letter to figure it out. I think it's great for kids from Rhode Island, because it’s literally the ocean state. They grew up there, but they still might be learning something new about it. I’m also excited for kids who might have maybe never seen the ocean to get a chance to see the book.”

Greenhalgh realizes that growing up in a state like Rhode Island it can be easy to overlook the benefits of developing an innate relationship with the marine world. She hopes her book allows children who don’t have that chance to develop the same fascination with sea life that she herself found as a child. A fascination she has helped to pass on to her nieces.

In fact, those two nieces helped her to make sure the book was fit for the age group, six to ten, that it was meant for. Natalie, almost ten, and Gabby, age seven, were a huge help to Greenhalgh when it came to making sure the book was age appropriate and interesting.

“I had both of them look at my stuff as I was writing it to make sure they’d enjoy doing it,” Greenhalgh laughed. “So, I had built in beta readers and editors which I liked. Kids may not know all of the words, but the whole idea is that their parents will be able to help and learn right along the way with them. There are a lot of opportunities to expand on what everyone knows going through the book and to have fun doing it.”

Published by Penguin Random House, Greenhalgh’s book can be found on most online retailers and in person at most stores that sell children’s books. The book covers a variety of interesting marine life and the importance of the ocean and its effects on global warming as well. The book retails for $12.99.