I Am a Meadow Mermaid

April 15, 2023
A whimsical homage to imaginary play and friendship. The child narrator, who has light brown skin and wavy dark hair, proclaims, "I am a meadow mermaid." This tot is a creative, playful sort who dreams of visiting the sea. Despite living on landlocked plains, the meadow mermaid splashes in puddles, cavorts through "waves in the wheat," and, wearing a blanket that evokes a mermaid tail, uses a seashell to listen to sounds of the ocean. Pairing well with the lyrical text, the illustrations, photographs of cut-paper dioramas, have a three-dimensional quality, the overall warm palette punctuated by the blue of the sky and, in many spreads, the child's denim overalls. It's a happy, solitary existence (except for a pet cat who appears on various spreads) until midway through, when text reads, "I listen for the music of a mermaid a million miles away and hear the shout of a...shipwrecked sailor?" The meadow mermaid encounters Milla, a child who has light skin and a blond ponytail. The children are immediate playmates, searching for treasure, gazing at "seahorses" (horses), eating "cookies shaped like sand dollars," and becoming fast friends. An immensely satisfying conclusion reveals that Milla is "a prairie pirate." (This book was reviewed digitally.) Joyful and memorable. (Picture book. 2-7)

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April 15, 2023
Preschool-Grade 2 A girl who lives on a farm in the plains proclaims, "I am a meadow mermaid." Using her vivid imagination, she creates an ocean, a suitable location for her adventures, by viewing the meadow's tall, waving plants as a sea and herself as a mermaid swimming among the waves. When she hears a shipwrecked sailor calling, she rushes to help and finds another girl, who introduces herself as Milla, sitting near the road beside her overturned bike. They play together, braving the rippling waves of wheat, hunting for treasure, and eating "cookies shaped like sand dollars." In bed that night, the girl dreams of further adventures with her new friend, "Milla, the prairie pirate." Poetic in an unpretentious way, George's graceful text uses apt imagery and reads aloud beautifully. MacKay's artwork, created by photographing paper dioramas, helps viewers imagine the meadow mermaid's moments of drama as well as her magical surroundings. The meadow, the sea, and even the air sometimes glow with golden light. This enjoyable picture book celebrates the power of a child's imagination.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.