The Girl and the Mermaid

Alina and her granny live in a lighthouse and every evening as Granny sips her tea, she would share magical tales of mermaids with the little girl. Now though, these stories have faded away and become almost completely erased from her grandmother’s memory. Devastated at the pain this causes her gran, Alina yearns to bring back the lost stories. However, one day as she gazes out to sea, what should she sea but a mermaid diving from nearby rocks. ‘Swim with me … to where your granny’s stories are, and many more besides’ the mermaid sings to the child. Convinced at last that Granny’s tales were true, Alina plunges into the waves and follows the mermaid. Beneath the waters she sees a wondrous world with coral reefs, shoals of shining fish and even long forgotten sunken treasure. The mermaid takes her to meet other merfolk and Alina is given a very special treasure to take home.

Back at the lighthouse once more, Alina realises the vital task of keeping her Gran’s stories alive and ensuring they fly far and wide has now passed to her. Now she is Alina the Lightkeeper, she who will henceforward keep Granny’ s stories burning bright.

Touching and uplifting, this wondrous tale with its lyrical rhyming text and gorgeous watercolour illustrations is sheer delight, especially the portrayal of the warm intergenerational relationship between Alina and her grandmother. Share at home and in the classroom.