Luminescent illustrations dazzle, but this purported nonfiction study of mermaids confounds.
Are mermaids real?
For thousands of years, stories of women and men with fishlike tales have been told, but this text employs the conceit that they really exist. The thinking that dugongs or the now-extinct Steller’s sea cows were mistaken for mermaids is quickly pooh-poohed. The author treats mermaids like other marine animals, discussing their habitats, their eating habits, and other aspects of their daily lives. Delicate, entrancing illustrations in an immersive, large trim display conventionally attractive shell bra–clad mermaids with diverse skin tones and hair colors, but they also show mermaids at various ages, from babies to older sea creatures, including some with different body types rarely depicted. The lone merman has pale skin, dark scraggly hair, a beard, and pointy barnacles on his shoulders. While people have always enjoyed myths and legends about these marvelous sea creatures, what’s the place of this book that is presented as natural history? There is no doubt that many readers will pore over the pictures, but is the young audience prepared to understand the joke? The last page shows a young human with brown skin and dark hair lying on a beach next to a mermaid with white skin, with text that reads: “If you go down to the water and wait, sooner or later you’ll see one.” Is the author playing at a tongue-in-cheek game of pretend or seeding disappointment? It all depends on the gullibility of the reader.
Luminescent illustrations dazzle, but this purported nonfiction study of mermaids confounds. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30715-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
This odd story is not for every reader, but those who enjoy it may find a friend for life
A determined mother embarks on a surreal adventure.
Kraegel’s format-defying tale is an unexpected story of love, determination, and parenting. Mother Shrew’s son, Hugo, is taken ill on the last day of January with a rare illness that makes him lethargic, with hot feet and a cold head. From “Dr. Ponteluma’s Book of Medical Inquiry and Physiological Know-How,” Mother Shrew learns that the only cure for this odd, unnamed illness is a spoonful of honey from the moon. Ferociously determined to cure Hugo, she sets out to save her son. In each new chapter, Mother Shrew faces a new obstacle or not-too-scary adversary as she braves the moon’s unusual environment—its verdant fields and lush forests make a stark contrast to the wintry landscape Mother Shrew has left behind—and its madcap inhabitants. Divided into seven heavily illustrated chapters, the story is one that will captivate contemplative and creative young readers. Caregivers may find this to be their next weeklong bedtime story and one that fanciful children will want to hear again and again. Kraegel’s ink-and-watercolor illustrations are reminiscent of Sergio Ruzzier’s but a bit grittier and with a darker color scheme. The surreal landscapes are appropriately unsettling, but a bright color palette keeps them from overwhelming readers.
This odd story is not for every reader, but those who enjoy it may find a friend for life . (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8169-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests.
A lonely prince gains a friend for a quest to find a missing jewel.
Prince Lucas of Wrenly has everything a boy could possibly want—except a friend. His father has forbidden him to play with the village children for reasons of propriety. Adventure-seeking Lucas acquires peasant clothes to masquerade as a commoner and make friends, but he is caught out. His mother, the queen, persuades the king to allow him one friend: Clara, the daughter of her personal dressmaker. When the queen’s prized emerald pendant goes missing, Lucas and Clara set off to find it. They follow the jewel as it changes hands, interviewing each temporary owner. Their adventure cleverly introduces the series’ world and peoples, taking the children to the fairy island of Primlox, the trolls’ home of Burth, the wizard island of Hobsgrove and finally Mermaid’s Cove. By befriending the mermaids, Lucas and Clara finally recover the jewel. In thanks, the king gives Clara a horse of her own so that she may ride with Lucas on their future adventures. The third-person narration is generally unobtrusive, allowing the characters to take center stage. The charming, medieval-flavored illustrations set the fairy-tale scene and take up enough page space that new and reluctant readers won’t be overwhelmed by text.
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9691-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
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