The Young Pearl Divers

Saeed is going to learn how to dive - his father has promised to teach him! It is the start of the pearling season and this is his first trip out on the waters of the Arabian Gulf. Leaving the rest of his family behind on the shore, Saeed and his father join the crew of a pearling dhow and set out to spend the hot summer months on the high seas. He learns how the pearl divers hunt for the treasures of the seabed, and discovers the secrets and dangers of the sea.This delightful story, carefully researched from oral and written sources - some dating from more than 150 years ago - offers an insight into the way of life that sustained the Arabian Gulf right up until the discovery of oil. The winning charm of Patricia Al Fakhri's watercolors combine with Julia Johnson's narrative to make The Pearl Diver a perennial favorite with children aged 8 to 12.Since its first publication in 2003, it has sold more than 30,000 copies worldwide.The Pearl Diver is a suggested resource in Hamilton Trust's Key Stage 2 unit on stories from other cultures.

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This video looks at the sources and properties of the fibres used in various fabrics.

The story of a young boy who goes pearl diving with his father and discovers the treasures and dangers of the sea.

In 1948, a nineteen-year-old pearl diver's dreams of spending her life combing the waters of Japan’s Inland Sea are shattered when she discovers she has leprosy. By law, she is exiled to an island leprosarium, where she is stripped of her dignity and instructed to forget her past. Her name is erased from her family records, and she is forced to select a new one. To the two thousand patients on the island of Nagashima, she becomes Miss Fuji. Although drugs arrest the course of Miss Fuji's disease, she cannot leave the colony. Instead, she becomes a caretaker to the other patients, and through the example of their courage, she gains insight into the deep wellspring of strength she will need to reclaim her freedom. Written with precision and eloquence, The Pearl Diver is a dazzling meditation on isolation and community, cruelty and compassion.