*Review* Mellie the Mermaid is Not Scared of Anything by Anna Finch

 

Genre: Children's 3-5 years

Published: March 10, 2023

Pages: 30

Join Mellie as she takes the journey into the depths of the ocean and learns how it is sometimes okay to be scared, in this immersive and beautiful new book Mellie the Mermaid Is NOT Scared of ANYTHING.

Mellie the Mermaid is not scared of anything.She is not scared of whales, eels, or octopi with bright blue rings.As little Mellie ventures alone to explore the deep dark blue, will her bravado hold or are there dangers about which she still doesn't have a clue?

Mellie the Mermaid Is NOT Scared of ANYTHING normalises being scared and demystifies fear for kids. It spreads encouraging message to children of all ages, boosts their confidence & self-esteem to help them overcome their fears, and helps parents raise empowered little humans.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

This is a slightly rhyming story about a young mermaid who isn't afraid of anything and goes off on her own to explore a shipwreck, where she discovers she is, in fact, afraid of sharks. The rhymes weren't in couplets so when they didn't happen it wasn't jarring, but when they did happen, it just felt fun and whimsical. 

The illustrations were full of cool colors being set deep in the ocean. I thought it was interesting that the adult mermaids wore stereotypical attire while Mellie had a whole t-shirt for a top. I'm sure it was because she's a child, but I noticed. This was a fun read so I'd be okay reading it a few times. Overall I give this book 4.37 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

Award-winning author Anna Finch lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she works as a teacher of English and Humanities by day and as a writer by night. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies with a major in Literature and Law and a Master of Teaching secondary.

After participating in NANOWRIMO, she discovered she could write a novel and decided to just go for it—she hasn’t looked back since. Voiceless, her debut novel, has recently won the Firebird 2022 Book Award in the mythology category. She hopes that her Young Adult Urban Fantasy novel will delight Coming of Age readers and adults alike. It is a subversion of the classic The Little Mermaid story. Prior to writing her novel, she had been a serial poet and short story writer.

She hopes to thrill, inspire, and reinforce a love of reading in all who pick up her work.