Mermaid Dreams
by Kate Pugsley
Date: 2019
Publisher: Tundra Books (NY)
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley
Mermaids come in all shapes and sizes! In this sweet picture book, a shy little girl goes on a magical underwater adventure filled with adorable mermaids, silly sea creatures, games with new friends and wonderful surprises!
One sunny Saturday, Maya and her parents visit the beach. Maya loves the beach: the warm sand feels wonderful between her toes. But it would be more fun if she had a friend. Too shy to say hello, Maya watches the kids play nearby, and slowly her eyes droop closed...
When Maya awakens she has been transported to a magical underwater world. Maya admires the sea creatures flitting around her, and she discovers that she too has a beautiful tail. Maya is a mermaid! But who is calling out a greeting from behind that coral? Whose bright eyes are peering at her from the sea grass? Whose laughter does she hear? Could it be a new friend? Or just another sea creature?
This adorable picture book will delight the youngest daydreamers and shows us that making new friends may not be as hard as you think -- if you have a good imagination!
(synopsis from Goodreads)
This book didn't start off too well for me, with the off-putting behaviour of the parents making me pretty angry. As soon as the family gets to the beach, Maya wants to play. But her parents tell her no, because they just want to relax with a beer and a book. Then they basically pawn her off on the beach population in general, telling her to go play. Safety concerns aside, I felt really sorry for the kid. Anyway, she's too shy to say hello to the other kids, so she just lies down on her turtle floaty in the blazing sun and falls asleep. (The parents are safely under their beach umbrella, and there was no mention of sunscreen or a hat for the kid. I bet she returns from every day at the beach with a horrible sunburn.)
The dream is juvenile and the unappealing illustrations don't help. Maya basically turns into a mermaid and encounters various sea creatures, all while searching for the owner of a giggling voice. Of course, it turns out to be another little-girl mermaid. When she eventually wakes up, she plays with Pearl (the little girl who's the owner of the voice she heard in the dream) while her parents continue to ignore their young child on a beach that appears to have no lifeguard.
I just didn't enjoy this one. The appeal is likely supposed to be the mermaid angle... but there are better mermaid-themed books out there.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tundra Books (NY) for providing a digital ARC.
Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 2/5
Overall: 2.33 out of 5
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