The Ocean Lives There: Magic, Music, and Fun on a Caribbean Adventure (Ages 4-8)

A Magic Door That Leads to A Beautiful Caribbean Island

"Beautifully written story with exquisite illustrations!" -Amazon Review

#1 New Release in Children's Exploration Fiction and Haiti Travel Guides

Experience the adventures of a young girl who discovers her family's Haitian Culture through a magical red-blue door.

Imane is a curious young girl with a big question. What is behind the magic door inside her house? Her sister Caroline says it’s a door that goes everywhere and nowhere. Sometimes it’s red. Sometimes it’s blue, and it smells like coffee beans and the ocean. Imane can only imagine what’s on the other side: a beautiful Caribbean Island full of magic, music, and fun. But Momma keeps the door locked tight, and no one is allowed to open it!

The beautiful Caribbean Island of Haiti. With breathtaking illustrations by Polina Hrytskova, join Imane on her adventure through the magic door in this charming children’s picture book and experience the beautiful Caribbean Island of Haiti.

In this children’s picture book, young readers can:

• Take a colorful journey into discovering the importance of one’s roots
• Develop a deeper understanding of Haitian culture and heritage
• Broaden their worldview

Children who love beautifully illustrated books such as Thank You, Omu!, Freedom Soup, I Dream of Popo, or Zonia's Rain Forest will find themselves drawn into this delightful children's picture book about Imane and her family—and the magical Caribbean island behind the magic door.

Born in Port-au-Prince, M.J. Fievre, B.S. Ed, earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Barry University. A seasoned K–12 teacher, a creator of safe spaces, and an initiator of difficult conversations, she spent much time building up her students, helping them feel comfortable in their own skin, and affirming their identities. Her close relationships with parents and students led her to look more closely at how we can balance protecting a child’s innocence with preparing them for the realities of life. She has taught creative writing workshops to children and teens at the O, Miami Poetry Festival and the Miami Art Museum, as well as in various schools in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia), Port-au-Prince (Haiti), and South Florida. She’s also been a keynote speaker at Tufts University (Massachusetts), Howard University (Washington, DC), the University of Miami (Florida), and Michael College (Vermont) and has served as a panelist at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference (AWP).

M.J.’s publishing career began as a teenager in her native Haiti. At nineteen years old, she signed her first book contract with Hachette-Deschamps for the publication of a YA book titled La Statuette Maléfique. Since then, M.J. has released nine YA books in French that are widely read in Europe and the French Antilles, and she is the author of the award-winning Badass Black Girl book series for tweens and teens (in English). One Moore Book published M.J.’s first children’s book, I Am Riding, as part of a special limited series edited by Edwidge Danticat. A middle-grade book, Young Trailblazers, and picture book, A Cat Named Sam, are both set to be released by DragonFruit in the fall of 2021.

As the ReadCaribbean program coordinator for the prestigious Miami Book Fair, M.J. directs and produces the children’s cultural show Taptap Krik? Krak! For her podcast, MJ has interviewed many literary legends, including Edwidge Danticat, Alice Randall, and Nikki Giovanni.