Charming, witty, and utterly delightful.
Former U.K. Children’s Laureate Riddell returns with the diary of mermaid Atalanta Scrimshaw, who lives in a cozy cave in Sleepy Cove.
The inhabitants of this enchanting underwater world mark time in Mermaid Months (Seahorse Moon, Coral Moon) and Mermaid Weeks (Saltyday, Swumday). Atalanta is a thoughtfultarian (“I won’t eat anything with an opinion”) whose best friend, Creech, is “the Creature from the Blue Lagoon.” Readers learn tidbits all about the lives of merpeople—and even a little about humans, thanks to Creech’s clever observations. Atalanta uses her walking suit to balance on her fins on dry land, and she often visits a dreamy poet who lives by Waldo Pond. One day, a suspicious-looking man and a large walrus appear with plans to clear the area for a fancy hotel and golf course. The “Save Sleepy Cove” campaign swings into action, giving Atalanta lots to write about. Riddell’s trademark wry humor and gorgeous black-and-white illustrations make this environmental fable a visual treat. Details of the myriad habitats and their inhabitants and hilarious annotations, puns, and literary and pop-culture references are coupled with an engaging narrative that takes a dig at destructive development. With tongue firmly in cheek, the author invites readers into this immersive adventure that also fosters an appreciation of the underwater and intertidal worlds. The funny asides will have both adult and young readers giggling. Atalanta appears white, and there’s racial diversity among the supporting human and mermaid cast.
Charming, witty, and utterly delightful. (Adventure. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781529009408
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.
In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure.
It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
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