I am a meadow mermaid

A whimsical homage to imaginary play and friendship. The child narrator, who has light brown skin and wavy dark hair, proclaims, "I am a meadow mermaid." This tot is a creative, playful sort who dreams of visiting the sea. Despite living on landlocked plains, the meadow mermaid splashes in puddles, cavorts through "waves in the wheat," and, wearing a blanket that evokes a mermaid tail, uses a seashell to listen to sounds of the ocean. Pairing well with the lyrical text, the illustrations, photographs of cut-paper dioramas, have a three-dimensional quality, the overall warm palette punctuated by the blue of the sky and, in many spreads, the child's denim overalls. It's a happy, solitary existence (except for a pet cat who appears on various spreads) until midway through, when text reads, "I listen for the music of a mermaid a million miles away and hear the shout of a…shipwrecked sailor?" The meadow mermaid encounters Milla, a child who has light skin and a blond ponytail. The children are immediate playmates, searching for treasure, gazing at "seahorses" (horses), eating "cookies shaped like sand dollars," and becoming fast friends. An immensely satisfying conclusion reveals that Milla is "a prairie pirate." (This book was reviewed digitally.) Joyful and memorable. (Picture book. 2-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.