Book reviews: children's books

Reviews: Lauren O’Connor-May

The Girl and the Mermaid

Hollie Hughes and Sarah Massini

Bloomsbury

This gorgeous rhyming book is about finding solace in memory and heritage.

It tells the story of Alina, a little girl who lives in a lighthouse with her granny. 

As her grandmother becomes increasingly fragile, Alina worries that the stories she grew up hearing will fade.

One day, a mermaid appears and takes Alina on a magical journey that shows her how to preserve her grandmother's memories.

This book is a delicate balance of emotional nuance. It has a touch of sadness, which is offset by a hopeful ending and peppered with loving familial interactions and wonder. An enchanting whimsy holds the whole story together. 

Of all the children’s books that have crossed my reviewer desk so far, this one is my new favourite.

This Book is About Monsters

Jaco Jacobs

Pan MacMillan

Styled as a fictional field guide, this book has an off-page narrator leading the reader through a forest in search of fairies, but friendly monsters constantly photo-bomb the plot. 

The hapless narrator nevertheless perseveres, finding nary a fairy, until eventually he relents and starts talking about the monsters instead.

My children loved this book, which is very funny and reminded me a lot of the Nosy Crow book, Who Ate Steve, which is styled similarly.

Lift the Flap Explorers

Joshua George

Gemini

This is an interactive educational book aimed at children 3 years and older.

Its clever design makes it factually dense despite being a board book of only 16 pages.

The book covers a wide range of explorers, from Vikings to astronauts, and presents facts in bite-sized portions hidden under flaps.

My four-year-old enjoyed flipping the flaps, even though she couldn’t read the facts written in tiny text underneath.