The Girl and the Mermaid

by Hollie Hughes, Sarah Massini (Illustrator)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547614462
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	06/18/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	38 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Hollie 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 studied graphic design and worked in corporate design and children's book design before settling down to pursue her life-long dream of illustrating books. She is also the illustrator of The Girl and the Dinosaur by Hollie Hughes, The Witchling's Wish by Lu Fraser and Kiss It Better by Smriti Prasadam-Halls. She lives in Sussex with her husband Peter, her son Mathew, and her mad terrier Tess.
@sarah_massini (Instagram)
@sarahmassini (Twitter)
Hollie Hughes is a hugely talented picture book author. Having three children of her own, she is perfectly tuned in to the reading habits and tastes of young children. She is the author of several much-loved picture books, including Princess Swashbuckle, and the bestselling, award-winning The Girl and the Dinosaur. Hollie lives in Essex with her family.
Sarah Massini studied graphic design and worked in corporate design and children's book design before settling down to pursue her lifelong dream of illustrating books. She is the illustrator of several picture books, including The Girl and the Dinosaur by Hollie Hughes and Kiss It Better by Smriti Prasadam-Halls. She lives in Sussex with her husband, Peter, and her dog, Coco.
@sarah_massini (Instagram)
@SarahMassini (Twitter)

Editorial Reviews

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 DINOSAUR

From the Publisher

07/01/2024

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

School Library Journal

2024-04-05
Love—and mermaid magic—help a young girl keep her grandmother’s memories alive.

Alina and Granny live in a lighthouse, which Alina operates; Granny has grown “too old” to do so. At night, over tea, Granny tells Alina tales of mermaids, but her memories are fading and, with them, the stories. Alina wishes she could do something to preserve them. One day a mermaid appears and invites Alina to swim “through swirling, whirling tides, to where your Granny’s stories are, and many more besides.” Alina bravely follows through seaweed forests and past sunken ships until they reach “a city filled with endless light,” where the merfolk keep stories in an ever-flowing well. The mermaid gives Alina some of Granny’s stories, and Alina realizes that the best way to preserve stories is to share them. She pours the stories into the lighthouse lamp, projecting them across the night sky. Granny and Alina are content, knowing that the stories will live on. This gentle narrative is presented in slightly uneven verse, with some distracting word choices (“pirate chiefs” rather than “captains,” for instance). Both Granny’s memory loss and the resolution feel somewhat simplified, though the bond between the two is heartfelt. The graceful, tangerine- and teal-hued images are appealing, and fans of merfolk will enjoy poring over the visuals. Granny and Alina are brown-skinned, and the mermaid is light-skinned; other merfolk are diverse in skin tone.

A poignant testament to the power of story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews