The Girl and the Mermaid
by Hollie Hughes (Author) Sarah Massini (Illustrator)
From bestselling creators of The Girl and the Dinosaur comes a new picture book about the value of imagination and storytelling, and the love between a girl and her grandmother.
Alina lives in a lighthouse by the sea: a home filled with the warmth of Granny's magical stories. But Alina is worried. Granny's memories and stories are starting to fade away, and she doesn't know how to bring them back. Then, one day, Alina meets a mermaid on the rocks near the lighthouse-and she's swept into a magical adventure deep under the sea. Can the mermaid help her find the stories, and can Alina help to keep the memories shining brightly?
This heartwarming picture book takes readers on a deep and fanciful journey to explore the importance of family, memory, imagination, and storytelling.
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PreS-Gr 2--A tender reminder of the power of stories and family, this magical mermaid tale focuses on lighthouse keeper Alina. She lives in the lighthouse with her granny, the original lighthouse keeper and storyteller, but Granny's memory fades and Alina becomes the caregiver. While this subtext is glossed over with uneven rhyming stanzas, the love between Alina and Granny is beautifully expressed in Massini's art. Mixed media watercolor and pencil collage renders layers of soft vignettes of Alina braiding a crown of roses into Granny's hair as they talk quietly over tea. Muted tones and soft light weave an intimacy that is not established by the rhyme scheme, which is inelegantly placed on the page. Rather than place the text as a stanza, as it is elsewhere, it is typeset as a couplet. When a mermaid from Granny's yarns appears, Alina dives in and discovers an underwater world, obtaining a "story shell" of memories to bring back for Granny, and the inspiration to share it with others through the lighthouse. Symbolism of the shell in the art and text provides opportunities to use this for story hours to ignite a shared experience. Merpeople are diverse in skin color; Alina and Granny are brown-skinned. VERDICT An additional selection, mostly for fans of merpeople and underwater adventures.--Rachel Zuffa
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
"A poignant testament to the power of story." —Kirkus Reviews
"A beautiful reverie complete with fairies, unicorns, dinosaurs and possibilities." —Foreword Reviews, starred review on THE GIRL AND THE DINOSAUR "Lively and atmospheric." —Kirkus Reviews on THE GIRL AND THE DINOSAUR "Sweet rhymes make for a tranquil bedtime book, and the alluring watercolor-and-pencil illustrations create a warm world." —Booklist on THE GIRL AND THE DINOSAUR "The balance of adventure and whimsy expressed in text and watercolor collages creates a pleasing bedtime tale." —School Library Journal on THE GIRL AND THE DINOSAURHollie Hughes is the author of many books for children, including The Girl and the Dinosaur. She finds much of her work taking place in schools-as both as a visiting author, and a literacy consultant-and also runs writing workshops for children and adults. She lives in the United Kingdom with her family.
www.holliehughes.com
@holliejhughes (Twitter)
@sarah_massini (Instagram)
@sarahmassini (Twitter)
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV066000 - Juvenile Fiction | Mermaids
Picture books
Stories in rhyme
Grandparent and child
Memory
Mermaids
