Mermaid Candy: A Sea Glass Adventure

With an anti-littering message, this slight, eco-aware mermaid myth from Lucas brings awareness to ocean pollution. When some “naughty squirrel sailors” drop their trash overboard, the Ocean—personified with fish-shaped eyes and expressive brows—tosses the detritus back, inadvertently shattering glass, which sinks to the sea floor. After blue-skinned young mermaid Heart at first mistakes the now-frosty glass for a gummy-like comestible, she confusingly dubs the beautiful fragments “Mermaid Candy” while acknowledging “that the clear candied gems, although lovely, had no place in the Ocean.” And when the mermaid’s cove pal Urch becomes sick from a polluted tidal pool, Heart and some merbunny friends undertake a cleanup that sees the shards deposited oceanside for discovery by animalian beachcombers. Closing pages pull the tale together with a muddled takeaway, “Sea glass is a gift from the Ocean,” that reminds beachgoers of possibilities for recycling and reusing. Peppered with images of hearts, stars, and bubbles, watercolor images incorporate photographs of sea glass. Includes tips for finding sea glass. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)