Mabel
A Mermaid Fable
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A lovely and laugh-out-loud picture book from the award-winning author of Rude Cakes and Most Marshmallows.
A silly read-aloud tale for kids about being yourself! Mabel isn't like the other mermaids. Lucky isn't like the other octopuses. But when they find each other, they discover that true friendship isn't about how you look, and that sometimes what we are searching for is right under our noses.
The inimitable Rowboat Watkins is back with another humorous tale about being true to yourself.
• A delightful, inspiring read-aloud book for toddlers that celebrates gender diversity and difference
• Stylish, accessible art brings this story of being true to yourself to hilarious life.
• Rowboat Watkins is a 2010 Sendak Fellow and Ezra Jack Keats honoree.
Young readers of Julian Is a Mermaid, Mary Wears What She Wants, and Exclamation Mark will find much to love in this tale that celebrates individuality and acceptance.
• Read-aloud books for kids age 3–5
• Books for teachers and librarians
• Gender, differences, being yourself
Rowboat Watkins was a recipient of the 2010 Sendak Fellowship, his book Rude Cakes was an Ezra Jack Keats Honor Book, and the New York Times praised his most recent title, Most Marshmallows, as "exquisite." Rowboat lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"What was weird about Mabel was that she had no mustache at all." Everyone else in her family does: her father wears an impressive drooping affair, her mother and sisters sport delicate curls, "even her baby brother had a tiny baby mustache." Mabel tries to avoid attention, hanging "seaweed falsies" awkwardly off her features, and "hiding in holes/ along the ocean floor." When she meets a new friend with a difference an octopus named Lucky things improve. "What can you do with eight legs that you can't do with seven?" Mabel asks. "Count to eight," Lucky says. "I can teach you to count to eight!" Mabel says confidently, a seashell covering her snoot. While the fable's trajectory seems clear from the outset, deft characterization and detailed worldbuilding by Watkins (Most Marshmallows) transcend the formulaic. Coupled with her open-hearted consideration, Mabel's sideways glances of embarrassment and dismay offer a winning vulnerability. "Nudibranch!" is the bullying cry of Mabel's peers, and Watkins's artful renditions of these beautiful sea slugs, undersea corals, and other marine life provide visual fireworks that amplify the story's compassionate message. Ages 3 5.
