After writing the post on God playing with the monsters of the deep, I kept thinking about Eva Ibbottson’s book ‘Monster Mission’. I thought how well it conveys this sense of God in the character of the Kracken. The Kracken is a huge sea monster who swims around the seas. He hums as he goes. His song brings joy to those who love the sea and treat it with respect but where he finds humans doing harm to the sea his hum changes. For reasons they do not understand the humans change their behaviour as he passes.

The story is set around an island on which live 3 sisters and various creatures magical and ordinary and their lives and the lives of 3 children become intertwined with the Kracken’s mission to bring healing once again to the seas.

As with most of Ibbotson’s books there is an inherent sense of spirituality and a deep sense of love for God’s creation. Like all her books, it is also a lot of fun with quirky and strange characters, excitement and terrible, wicked villains. Ibbottson has a sense of fun, which weaves through her stories.

If you want to convey something of the God-who-plays to your children, this is not a bad book to share at bedtime, with children from about 6-10 (or older for those who have not lost their sense of fun!)