Mirabella the Mermaid Detective - Children's Book Review

Image: Copyright Emma & Margo Gibbs

www.mermaiddetective.com

My good friends Margo Gibbs and Emma Gibbs have a wonderful story for children. I met Margo and Emma back when a friend directed me to their completed crowdfunding page for their Mirabella story, and I contacted them to do a post for the Chapter Book Challenge. They very kindly donated time and effort and write a post that was helpful to the other writers in the challenge.

Now, about Mirabella the Mermaid Detective: My ten year old read it easily and really enjoyed it. My seven year old just started reading it. She is enjoying it so far.She is like me in that she has a soft spot for mermaids and stories about them.

I read the book too, and I think it is a wonderful little book. Mirabella, as a mermaid, is a believable young girl. She is adventurous and courageous, which are two traits I like to encourage in my own daughters. She has two friends who remain mostly by her side in the book, a lionfish named Seamese and a cuttlefish name Luna. The book chapters are a series of connecting stories, each being able to be read on its own. This makes it easy for me to read the stories to my four year old son too, as his attention span would not last for the entire book in one sitting. I can just read him one part of the story at a time and he will feel as though he has had a complete story. (And before you think anything about boys not liking mermaid stories, stop right there. Boys can and DO like mermaid stories, and there is no reason why they shouldn't!)

The story is enchanting, and the pictures are even more magical. The artist has captured the story so well in the smattering of full-color pictures that can be found throughout the book. I know my daughters would be thrilled to have any one of the illustrations as a poster in their room. Laurent Lalo, as the illustrator for Mirabella has done a beautiful job.

We have it downloaded onto my husband's iPad. My children love the interactive touch they get when reading a story on the iPad. Getting to move the pages with a finger swipe, for some reason, appeals to these children who have grown up being very well-versed in technology.

I think most children will enjoy Mirabella the Mermaid Detective's story.

*****

Margo & Emma Gibbs are a mother-daughter writing team from the Sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia, who have been creating stories together ever since Emma was very little. They both love reading, exploring, the magical natural world around them, and secretly both wish that they were mermaids. Mirabella the Mermaid Detective is their first book.

Laurent Lalo is a French-born world traveling illustrator who has over 40 years of experience transforming imagination into illustrations. He has illustrated hundreds of books and currently lives in Nournea, where he regularly swims on the New Caledonian Reef.

 



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