Marli's Tangled Tale is an engaging story that takes you to the cool and green cliffs where Marli the Puffin lives with her soon to hatch egg until one day the excitement of the far away town visits in an unexpected way. As hope starts to fade her tangled tale takes a twist just in time for the surprise waiting for her back at home! A positive, inspiring, beautifully illustrated true story about the problem of balloon releases with a happy ending.

Marli's Tangled Tale is based on true events and it is this powerful message which invites children and adults alike to question their actions and the effects on our environment. With suggestions for alternatives to balloon releases and ideas for the future and links to activities which reinforce the story, Marli’s Tangled Tale is a book which will inspire young readers to want to take care of nature and their environment by making changes to the world around them.

A 'Marli' Puffin soft toy is also available separately on our website..

Loved by children, parents and teachers around the world, Wild Tribe Heroes is the #1 children’s book series tackling important environmental issues in a positive and inspiring way. The Wild Tribe Heroes books have received personal letters of congratulations from Sir David Attenborough and King Charles who are both extremely concerned about the issue of ocean plastics and are doing everything they can to help raise awareness.

Marli's Tangled Tale

£7.99

Quantity

Author: Ellie Jackson

Illustrator: Laura Callwood

Dimensions: 27.2 x 21 cm

Paperback

Printed sustainably in the UK from FSC approved sources.
The little puffin which inspired the story of Marli was discovered by a Whitby Whale Watching boat in 2017 floating in the open ocean. The boat operators saw a commotion in the water and after going over to investigate they were horrified to discover a small puffin swimming around in circles with metres of ribbon tangled around her attached to three half deflated balloons. They were able to scoop her up in a net and after several minutes of careful cutting, with a whole crowd of onlookers, the puffin was released back over the side of the boat and happily flew away.

The puffin in Marli’s story is not quite so lucky and needs a bit more care from people at the Wildlife Sanctuary. Many types of animals are brought here to recover from a whole variety of illnesses and injuries but sadly more and more wildlife is being brought in after eating or getting caught in balloons and ribbons.
It is not just seabirds that are affected by this form of litter, any animal can be in trouble from local woodland animals such as owls, foxes and rabbits, to domestic animals like cows, horses and sheep to all types of marine creatures, in particular sea turtles who often mistake burst balloons for jellyfish.

Wildlife Sanctuaries are temporary or permanent homes for animals with the hope that most can be released back into their natural environment after a period of recovery and rehabilitation. Sometimes the animals require a high level of care or in the case of Marli, a few days of rest and food are all that is needed before their release.
Ellie Jackson is a Cornish based bestselling environmental children’s author. As an environmental scientist who taught geography for six years, Ellie conceived her idea to use children’s books as a way of educating young people about the threat to sea life due to our dependence on plastic after she and her young family saw a turtle called Duffy being released back into the ocean after a year of treatment for ingesting plastic.