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PRESCHOOL
Idle, Molly

Coral

40 pp. | Little | May, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-0-316-46571-7 $17.99
(2) PS Idle returns to the world under the sea in this follow-up to Pearl (rev. 9/18). Mermaids Coral, Filly, and Manta live together harmoniously, each with her own responsibilities to their shared ocean home. Filly tends the little fish; Manta, the fishes' shark and ray predators ("keeping the reef in balance"). And Coral's role is as creator of the reef itself--which, perhaps understandably, gives her something of a goddess complex. Having found a nice, quiet, unexplored hollow in the reef, Coral wants to keep it to herself. She turns testy and territorial. "But there's room enough for all of us," Filly reasons. "We make our home here too," says Manta. Coral's uncalled-for response: "I make the reef...all you make is a mess!" Of course she drives her friends away; of course she feels bad and makes amends; of course the story ends happily. But the tale's deliberate pacing allows time for each emotional beat to land--and gives viewers ample opportunity to revel in the sun-dappled, pastel-hued undersea world. The curling, swirling mermaids' bodies suggest grace and motion, with color-coding and hints of detail (e.g., Filly looks something like a seahorse; Manta, a manta ray) to indicate personality and vocation. Though the primary lessons learned are about friendship, sharing, selflessness, and communal living, Coral's actions are at least somewhat relatable--who doesn't want a little space to herself?
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

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