French Quarter, St. Martin:--- The public is invited to celebrate the launch of two new nature books produced by the Les Fruits de Mer association! The free launch event will be held from 9 am to noon this Saturday, May 4th, at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. The two new books are the latest in the popular Soualikids children’s series, Soualikids Creatures and Soualkids Creatures Coloring Book. They showcase this island’s insects and other little creatures. These two books will be given away for free at the event, featuring a coloring station. The author and photographer will be present for a book signing.
The Les Fruits de Mer association developed the Soualikids series based on requests from St. Martin educators and parents for materials about this island for toddlers and preschool kids. Each book in the series is a quadrilingual word book in four languages spoken here: English, French, Spanish, and Dutch. The goal of the series is to highlight St. Martin's nature, culture, and heritage to help little kids build early word skills about the special place where they live.
“The series is called ‘Soualikids’ because it was created for the kids of St. Martin, and Soualiga is one of the Amerindian names for this island,” explained author Jenn Yerkes. “The nature books in this series are designed in pairs: a first book with wildlife photos and a second companion book with fun coloring pages of the same wildlife. We’re thrilled to launch this third pair of books, which stars the incredible insects and other little critters that kids can see here on St. Martin!”
Soualikids Creatures is a “look and learn” picture book with colorful photos of captivating local creatures. The companion Soualikids Creatures Coloring Book is a “color and learn” book with two fun coloring pages for each of the creatures. It also has a visual guide on the back cover with vivid photos of all the featured creatures. Both books include creature names in all four languages.
“Adults can share these books with little kids to help them build their vocabulary and discover the cool creatures on their own island!” said Mark Yokoyama, co-founder of the Les Fruits de Mer association. “We’ll be giving free printed copies of these books to local preschools as part of Les Fruits de Mer’s 2024 book giveaway program. And more Soualikid books are on the way that spotlight island nature, art, and culture!”
Thanks to event sponsor Delta Petroleum, the free launch event and book giveaway will be held at Amuseum Naturalis on Saturday, May 4th, from 9 a.m. to noon. Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House is a free museum of nature and heritage located in the French Quarter, St. Martin. It is open every day from sunrise to sunset.
Both new books are also available for free download from http://lesfruitsdemer.com and for purchase on amazon.com worldwide. Teachers and youth group leaders interested in copies are encouraged to contact Les Fruits de Mer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Companies, organizations or individuals interested in sponsoring copies for schools are also encouraged to contact the association.
Les Fruits de Mer’s 2024 book giveaway program is supported by the Politique de la ville de Saint-Martin, implemented by the State and the Collectivité de Saint-Martin, the Vie Associative service of Saint-Martin, and the Cité Éducative de Saint-Martin. Soualikids Creatures and Soualikids Creatures Coloring Book were produced with support from the Collectivité de Saint-Martin and the Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires.
