Description

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A farm girl with a big imagination turns her landlocked home into an ocean playground in this dreamy picture book for little mermaids everywhere.

A little girl dreams of adventures in the water and feels the spirit of the ocean all around her . . . even though she lives on the prairie, with flat land as far as the eye can see. But she won't let a little detail like that stand in the way of being a meadow mermaid! Frolicking in the "waves" of wheat and "oceans" of grass, spying sea horses and . . . a shipwrecked sailor? Even if that shipwreck is actually an overturned bike and the sailor a new kid from a neighboring field, it's still a chance to make a new friend, one with an imagination as expansive and a love of the ocean as deep as the little girl's own.

This fanciful, whimsical picture book will charm young mermaids and little pirates everywhere, and inspire them to embrace the spirit of the ocean in the things around them, no matter where they live!

About the Author

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KALLIE GEORGE is an author, editor and creative writing teacher living on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. Her acclaimed works for children include The Secret Fawn, also illustrated by Elly MacKay; Duck, Duck, Dinosaur and The Doll Hospital, as well as the Heartwood Hotel series and the Crimson Twill series. Kallie has also written picture books inspired by L.M. Montgomery’s beloved Anne of Green Gables (Merry Christmas, Anne; If I Couldn’t Be Anne; and Goodnight, Anne), in addition to a chapter book series adaptation of the classic novel. As a child, Kallie loved to spend hours playing mermaid at the beach, in the forest or wherever her imagination took her.

ELLY MACKAY is an internationally recognized paper artist and award-winning children’s bookmaker. She is the author and illustrator of the picture books In the Clouds and Red Sky at Night, as well as Hidden Treasure, The Tallest Tree House and Waltz of the Snowflakes, among others. Elly’s art also graces the pages of The Secret Fawn, her first book with Kallie George, and the covers of Tundra’s reissues of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series and Emily of New Moon series. She lives in Owen Sound, Ontario, with her husband and two children. In the summertime, Elly can be found searching for mermaids in nearby Georgian Bay.

Praise For…

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"A whimsical homage to imaginary play and friendship. . . . Joyful and memorable." —Kirkus Reviews

"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. . . . This enjoyable picture book celebrates the power of a child’s imagination." —Booklist

"This wonderful picture book will have you longing for the adventure and imagination of childhood. Children and parents will be swept away." —Story Monsters Ink

“[A] beautiful celebration of waving wheat fields and starlit nights, and also a tribute to the friendship between two children.” —Winnipeg Free Press

"With a beautiful and poetic narrative arc told by a meadow mermaid, this awe-inspiring tale sends a message to young readers that anything is possible so long as you believe." —Young Adulting

"The spare but poetic text is accompanied by pictures long on atmosphere but short on fine detail. Together, they move the reader past the here-and-now fields of grass to conjure a sense of waves tossing on the sea." —CM: Canadian Review of Materials