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SeaBEAN Trilogy #1
SeaBEAN
On her 11th birthday in 2018, Alice finds a mysterious black box on the beach. She discovers it's called a C-Bean and imagines it belongs to her. Together with her five schoolmates - the only children on the newly re-inhabited remote island of St Kilda - they soon realise it has extraordinary powers and can transport them anywhere in the world. Before long, Alice and her friends find themselves immersed in all sorts of thrilling adventures, from Central Park to the Amazonian rainforest to the backstreets of Hong Kong, as they uncover danger and subterfuge threatening the world's eco-systems. With a stray dog and a garrulous parrot they seem to have acquired along the way, they overcome their fears as the C-Bean helps them unravel the mysteries of time and tides, understand the interconnectedness of all things, and in the process succeed in safeguarding the future of their tiny Scottish island.
176 pages, Paperback
First published September 25, 2013
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Holding
8 books99 followersSarah Holding is a full-time children's and YA author based in the UK and Japan.
Sarah's latest offering 'Road to True North', a YA novel about an ill-fated roadtrip around Iceland, came out in September 2025.
Her fictional debut 'SeaBEAN', a best-selling time travel adventure trilogy, is regarded as a leading 'cli-fi' text, and is being taught in primary schools across the UK and around the world.
'CHAMELEON', her first YA novel published in 2020, is set during the fall of Atlantis.
Her second YA novel 'blackloop', an edgy coming-of-age sci-fi romance, came out in 2023.
Sarah's first collection of poems, 'How to Write a Poem', which was written during lockdown, came out in 2021.
Sarah has given over 300 author-led creative writing workshops and talks for schools, libraries, festivals and offers a range of virtual discovery sessions for schools overseas.
When she's not writing, Sarah loves painting and drawing, travelling, cooking, singing and playing jazz.
Sarah's latest offering 'Road to True North', a YA novel about an ill-fated roadtrip around Iceland, came out in September 2025.
Her fictional debut 'SeaBEAN', a best-selling time travel adventure trilogy, is regarded as a leading 'cli-fi' text, and is being taught in primary schools across the UK and around the world.
'CHAMELEON', her first YA novel published in 2020, is set during the fall of Atlantis.
Her second YA novel 'blackloop', an edgy coming-of-age sci-fi romance, came out in 2023.
Sarah's first collection of poems, 'How to Write a Poem', which was written during lockdown, came out in 2021.
Sarah has given over 300 author-led creative writing workshops and talks for schools, libraries, festivals and offers a range of virtual discovery sessions for schools overseas.
When she's not writing, Sarah loves painting and drawing, travelling, cooking, singing and playing jazz.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 30, 2016
3.5 stars
I don't read much middle grade fiction but when I heard about this trilogy and realised it aimed to teach children about climate change and global warming I knew I wanted to give it a try. The cool heat sensitive, colour changing covers didn't hurt either and I have to admit to spending more than a little time playing with them trying to see the full image underneath the dark top layer!
SeaBEAN is the first book in the trilogy and it introduces us to eleven year old Alice and her school friends. Alice lives on the small, isolated island of St Kilda with a handful of other families who are all working on a way of harnessing wave power and turning it into electricity. This story focuses on Alice's adventures with her friends after a mysterious, futuristic device is delivered to the island. The C-Bean was sent by an anonymous donor and is meant to be a new classroom for the island school but it doesn't take long for the friends to realise that the C-Bean has mysterious abilities that open them up to a whole world of adventure.
SeaBEAN is a fun and fast paced adventure story that is sure to appeal to younger readers. I like the fact that there is an underlying message there but that the environmental issues aren't forced down reader's throats - it's educational without being too much and I think that works better when it comes to getting a message across. The C-Bean reminded me of Doctor Who's Tardis and I can't wait to see what kind of journey it takes Alice and her friends on in the next book.
I don't read much middle grade fiction but when I heard about this trilogy and realised it aimed to teach children about climate change and global warming I knew I wanted to give it a try. The cool heat sensitive, colour changing covers didn't hurt either and I have to admit to spending more than a little time playing with them trying to see the full image underneath the dark top layer!
SeaBEAN is the first book in the trilogy and it introduces us to eleven year old Alice and her school friends. Alice lives on the small, isolated island of St Kilda with a handful of other families who are all working on a way of harnessing wave power and turning it into electricity. This story focuses on Alice's adventures with her friends after a mysterious, futuristic device is delivered to the island. The C-Bean was sent by an anonymous donor and is meant to be a new classroom for the island school but it doesn't take long for the friends to realise that the C-Bean has mysterious abilities that open them up to a whole world of adventure.
SeaBEAN is a fun and fast paced adventure story that is sure to appeal to younger readers. I like the fact that there is an underlying message there but that the environmental issues aren't forced down reader's throats - it's educational without being too much and I think that works better when it comes to getting a message across. The C-Bean reminded me of Doctor Who's Tardis and I can't wait to see what kind of journey it takes Alice and her friends on in the next book.
December 7, 2014
When I was first approached to read this series I will admit to not really knowing anything about it. After some investigation I quickly replied accepting the first book in the series. SeaBEAN was a quick read only being about 130 pages long without the acknowledgments and notes at the back of the book. One thing that is great about this series is that each cover is heat sensitive, and with the help of a radiator I could change the covers to a clearer picture, however this also led to the book being passed around at dinner time for work colleagues to try it instead of me reading it.
SeaBEAN tells the story of the arrival of a mysterious box which allows the students of St Kilda to travel around the world, with visits to New York, a rainforest, China, and Australia, where they pick up stray animals and endangered birds. The invention of this box, a travelling classroom is a genius idea that allows interaction from the children, gives them facts, and I'm guessing the cover mimics what the box can do. During their travels, the students get to witness first hand the effects of gold mining and how it changes the earth, how toxic chemicals are used for this, and how harmful they are for the earth, for the animals, and also the plants in the vicinity.
SeaBEAN is an enjoyable read for younger children that deals with environmental issues and the impact that certain operations have on the earth in a simple yet understandable way for them to easily take it all on board.
SeaBEAN tells the story of the arrival of a mysterious box which allows the students of St Kilda to travel around the world, with visits to New York, a rainforest, China, and Australia, where they pick up stray animals and endangered birds. The invention of this box, a travelling classroom is a genius idea that allows interaction from the children, gives them facts, and I'm guessing the cover mimics what the box can do. During their travels, the students get to witness first hand the effects of gold mining and how it changes the earth, how toxic chemicals are used for this, and how harmful they are for the earth, for the animals, and also the plants in the vicinity.
SeaBEAN is an enjoyable read for younger children that deals with environmental issues and the impact that certain operations have on the earth in a simple yet understandable way for them to easily take it all on board.
December 20, 2013
My daughter received a copy of this book for review purposes. A copy of her review is below.
As I read it too, I would just like to add a parents viewpoint - this book is just amazing !!
Teaching kids about the environment as well as the concept of community spirit. Alice, the 11 year old is a great character, still innocent but becoming more aware of the world, and it's ways, every day.
The adventures she shares with her school friends are well thought out and each one has its own message. If I won the lotto, I would definitely produce this book as a movie.... It would be visually spectacular !!
Well done Sarah Holding, for writing a children's book with soul :)
Cannot wait for the next two installments, especially after reading the teasers !
Here's Mia's review ( she's 10 years old )
http://bleachhouselibrary.blogspot.ie...
As I read it too, I would just like to add a parents viewpoint - this book is just amazing !!
Teaching kids about the environment as well as the concept of community spirit. Alice, the 11 year old is a great character, still innocent but becoming more aware of the world, and it's ways, every day.
The adventures she shares with her school friends are well thought out and each one has its own message. If I won the lotto, I would definitely produce this book as a movie.... It would be visually spectacular !!
Well done Sarah Holding, for writing a children's book with soul :)
Cannot wait for the next two installments, especially after reading the teasers !
Here's Mia's review ( she's 10 years old )
http://bleachhouselibrary.blogspot.ie...
March 18, 2014
My daughter received a copy of this book for review purposes. A copy of her review is below.
As I read it too, I would just like to add a parents viewpoint - this book is just amazing !!
Teaching kids about the environment as well as the concept of community spirit. Alice, the 11 year old is a great character, still innocent but becoming more aware of the world, and it's ways, every day.
The adventures she shares with her school friends are well thought out and each one has its own message. If I won the lotto, I would definitely produce this book as a movie.... It would be visually spectacular !!
Well done Sarah Holding, for writing a children's book with soul :)
Cannot wait for the next two installments, especially after reading the teasers !
Here's Mia's review ( she's 10 years old )
http://bleachhouselibrary.blogspot.ie...
As I read it too, I would just like to add a parents viewpoint - this book is just amazing !!
Teaching kids about the environment as well as the concept of community spirit. Alice, the 11 year old is a great character, still innocent but becoming more aware of the world, and it's ways, every day.
The adventures she shares with her school friends are well thought out and each one has its own message. If I won the lotto, I would definitely produce this book as a movie.... It would be visually spectacular !!
Well done Sarah Holding, for writing a children's book with soul :)
Cannot wait for the next two installments, especially after reading the teasers !
Here's Mia's review ( she's 10 years old )
http://bleachhouselibrary.blogspot.ie...
February 27, 2016
Read through netgalley.com
I believe that this book might be marketing towards Middle Grade, which is in fact in my opinion the best audience for this book. It was interesting, but it just didn’t match me as a reader. I’m simply fell outside of the target group for this book. But I recommend it for Middle Grade and to kids, I believe they might like it better than me. It is definitely quite imaginative in ways that will stimulate the younger audience that has yet to experience a lot of this, that affects their sight on literature and life.
I believe that this book might be marketing towards Middle Grade, which is in fact in my opinion the best audience for this book. It was interesting, but it just didn’t match me as a reader. I’m simply fell outside of the target group for this book. But I recommend it for Middle Grade and to kids, I believe they might like it better than me. It is definitely quite imaginative in ways that will stimulate the younger audience that has yet to experience a lot of this, that affects their sight on literature and life.
December 27, 2019
Recommended in our list of books for Year 6. An interesting trilogy for children interested in climate change, time-travel and saving the world.
September 20, 2023
Ok
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2016
This review also appears on Joe Follansbee's blog.
When I was 10 years old, a field trip was the quickest way to get me excited about a school subject. It was a moment of freedom from the boredom of the classroom that all of my friends–and probably the teacher as well–relished. Children are wired to move around and explore their universe; the classroom is a 19th century anachronism born of capitalism’s fixation with mass production and efficiency. But what if you could walk into a high-tech, wired classroom with a passel of eager kids and head off to anyplace on the planet, taking the classroom with you? That’s the premise of SeaBEAN, a sci-fi adventure novel for children aged eight to 12, written by Sarah Holding and published by Medina Publishing in the UK.
The action takes place in the year 2018 on St. Kilda, a remote group of islands off the western coast of Scotland. Alice is the precocious ten-year-old daughter of a green energy researcher and his wife who have taken up residence on the island to install an experimental wave energy system. The small community includes a half-dozen children, all taught by a single teacher. One day, the ferry delivers a large black box, called a “C-Bean,” and its powers are as amazing as Dr. Who’s Tardis, but with a bookish bent. The kid-friendly device is easy for Alice to crack, and she leads her school friends on travels to New York, Brasil, China, and St. Kilda’s namesake in Australia, collecting a stray dog and and endangered parrot, as well as information. As children of green energy pioneers, they are keenly interested in caring for the environment, and they quickly learn that some adults prefer profiting off the earth than caring for it.
Told with a mixture of faux blog postings and conventional narrative, SeaBEAN is an enjoyable fantasy with a clear message about environmental stewardship. But the author missed a couple of opportunities for deeper exploration of Alice and her world. Early in the story, her mother gives birth to her baby brother, but the child has no discernible impact on Alice’s emotional life. And the death of her teacher’s sister, which causes him to leave the island for a time, offers Alice little more than a chance to take the C-Bean on a trip. SeaBEAN is the first of a three-part series, which includes the upcoming SeaWAR and SeaRISE. (SeaBEAN presents the first chapter of SeaWAR as an extra, and the second book holds promise for danger and a history lesson.) Perhaps we’ll learn more about the family and community life in the second and third books. In the meantime, 10-year-olds will be jealous of Alice’s amazing mobile classroom.
When I was 10 years old, a field trip was the quickest way to get me excited about a school subject. It was a moment of freedom from the boredom of the classroom that all of my friends–and probably the teacher as well–relished. Children are wired to move around and explore their universe; the classroom is a 19th century anachronism born of capitalism’s fixation with mass production and efficiency. But what if you could walk into a high-tech, wired classroom with a passel of eager kids and head off to anyplace on the planet, taking the classroom with you? That’s the premise of SeaBEAN, a sci-fi adventure novel for children aged eight to 12, written by Sarah Holding and published by Medina Publishing in the UK.
The action takes place in the year 2018 on St. Kilda, a remote group of islands off the western coast of Scotland. Alice is the precocious ten-year-old daughter of a green energy researcher and his wife who have taken up residence on the island to install an experimental wave energy system. The small community includes a half-dozen children, all taught by a single teacher. One day, the ferry delivers a large black box, called a “C-Bean,” and its powers are as amazing as Dr. Who’s Tardis, but with a bookish bent. The kid-friendly device is easy for Alice to crack, and she leads her school friends on travels to New York, Brasil, China, and St. Kilda’s namesake in Australia, collecting a stray dog and and endangered parrot, as well as information. As children of green energy pioneers, they are keenly interested in caring for the environment, and they quickly learn that some adults prefer profiting off the earth than caring for it.
Told with a mixture of faux blog postings and conventional narrative, SeaBEAN is an enjoyable fantasy with a clear message about environmental stewardship. But the author missed a couple of opportunities for deeper exploration of Alice and her world. Early in the story, her mother gives birth to her baby brother, but the child has no discernible impact on Alice’s emotional life. And the death of her teacher’s sister, which causes him to leave the island for a time, offers Alice little more than a chance to take the C-Bean on a trip. SeaBEAN is the first of a three-part series, which includes the upcoming SeaWAR and SeaRISE. (SeaBEAN presents the first chapter of SeaWAR as an extra, and the second book holds promise for danger and a history lesson.) Perhaps we’ll learn more about the family and community life in the second and third books. In the meantime, 10-year-olds will be jealous of Alice’s amazing mobile classroom.
January 19, 2014
An interesting sci-fi story that also educated young readers (kids) about environment and nature and the damage some of us are causing to it and what can be done about it.
The book is neither preachy nor does it sound like one. it is a story about a girl who finds a strange large cube which is being called a mobile classroom with some high tech stuff. It enables them to travel instantaneously to far-off places (practically across the globe) and learn while on the ride.
The author has done a good job of fusing together travel & environmental issues with the innocence of a 10 year old.
I look forward to the part 2 & 3 of this trilogy ...
The book is neither preachy nor does it sound like one. it is a story about a girl who finds a strange large cube which is being called a mobile classroom with some high tech stuff. It enables them to travel instantaneously to far-off places (practically across the globe) and learn while on the ride.
The author has done a good job of fusing together travel & environmental issues with the innocence of a 10 year old.
I look forward to the part 2 & 3 of this trilogy ...
October 1, 2013
My daughter and I read this in two days and both loved it. We are still talking about the questions it has raised and can't wait for the next installment. She loved the characters (both human and animal) and the adventures they have. I love that she's read and enjoyed something with substance. The writer treats the reader as an equal - there's no feeling that you are reading a children's book, as the language is clear and intelligent - and yet you are drawn into a dream-like state where impossible events seem perfectly reasonable. Highly recommended.
October 25, 2013
I am a lover of the Secret Seven and Famous Five Books, and having read this book I found myself transported into a new age of the Enid Blyton. Where Learning becomes fun and exciting and a SeaBean becomes a transporter to new countries. Not only does Alice go to places with her friends that she's only heard of, but she collects things along the way.
If I had younger children, I would most certainly be reading them this book at night. It brings dreams to reality and sends you off into the unknown.
If I had younger children, I would most certainly be reading them this book at night. It brings dreams to reality and sends you off into the unknown.
July 26, 2016
SeaBEAN was a clever story with a big lesson under it's surface. It's age-appropriate narrative and dialogue will appeal to the targeted audience as well as plant the seed of environmental awareness. The blog entry was a delightful touch! My seven year old loved every word of it. I could definitely see this being widely distributed amongst the schools here in the U.S. as well as internationally. Well done, Ms. Holding!
**I received a complimentary copy from Medina Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
**I received a complimentary copy from Medina Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
January 23, 2014
Sea Bean is an intriguing and beautifully written piece that combines fantasy and reality to make the young reader think about the ecological issues of our day in a new and exciting way.
Sarah Holding's unique approach to storytelling offers a range of learning outcomes in a context that captures the imagination and holds the reader.
Can't wait for the next one.
Ken Robb
Kilmarnock
Scotland
Sarah Holding's unique approach to storytelling offers a range of learning outcomes in a context that captures the imagination and holds the reader.
Can't wait for the next one.
Ken Robb
Kilmarnock
Scotland
March 4, 2014
What a wonderful children's book, part of a new series. Alice lives on the island of St. Kilda off the coast of Scotland in 2018. A mysterious cube arrives as a gift to the school. It is called the C-Bean and it transports the children and their teacher to different places to study. This story will be loved by both boys and girls, 4th-8th grades. It's an easy read and many adults will enjoy it too. It's science fiction, fantasy and adventure rolled into one exciting story.
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March 13, 2018SeaBean told the tale of a school girl, Alice, living on the remote island of St Kilda. The 8 school children got a new teacher from America and with him he brought the C-Bean, a black box with magical powers. The book follows the children as they go on adventures to all around the world in the C-Bean, getting into some trouble along the way. Running alongside the main story is a tale of global warming and the environmental issues the world is facing. It does not baby it for children, it shows the reality of what we are doing to the world. However, I don't think the topic would be clear to children if they were not told because the issues that occur aren't explained (e.g. when the birds are all dead, it is not told exactly how it happened). Possibly Holding has gone into more detail on this in the next book? When we were talking about it as a class, the children could then understand what was happening. They were lucky enough to have Sarah Holding come into the school to talk about the book, so they had hat background knowledge before reading it.
After reading this book with year 4, I think it might be a bit too advanced for them. Most of the children liked the book but when they were reading aloud a lot of them struggled with some of the vocabulary and the topic of global warming.
Overall I enjoyed reading the book however the ending was frustrating and ended in an annoying place, I guess that would be resolved by reading the next book in the trilogy. I also really like that the cover changes when it is rubbed, of course the children loved this too.
After reading this book with year 4, I think it might be a bit too advanced for them. Most of the children liked the book but when they were reading aloud a lot of them struggled with some of the vocabulary and the topic of global warming.
Overall I enjoyed reading the book however the ending was frustrating and ended in an annoying place, I guess that would be resolved by reading the next book in the trilogy. I also really like that the cover changes when it is rubbed, of course the children loved this too.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews