In 1975 seven-year-old Doina Cornell left England with her father Jimmy Cornell, mother and brother to spend the next six years sailing around the world on a small yacht. The author has drawn on her memories, diaries and stories, to re-create the perfect life led by a sailing child: Swimming, diving and playing the days away in deserted anchorages; visiting some of the most beautiful islands in the world; falling in love with the sea in all its ever-changing moods, from balmy trade wind ocean passages to the treacherous breakers that crash onto tropical reefs.

Beautifully narrated by premier voice-artist Tanya Bartlett, the New Street Nautical Audio Edition of Child of the Sea distills a vivid evocation of the sailing life from the perspective of a bright, curious and delightful child. The audiobook can be encountered as a simple story, in the clear language of a child, and nothing more. Or it can be encountered as a comment on what ingredients make for a perfect childhood, in these days when much ink is spilled on meditating that very question. What do children need to grow up happy and healthy? Security with their family; an element of risk and freedom to explore the world; openness to other peoples and cultures; a sense of the environment and our finite resources. The sailing life offers all these and more.