Coral

by Molly Idle

Overview

Caldecott Honor author-illustrator Molly Idle offers a stunningly illustrated environmental tale featuring three very different mermaid friends who learn to coexist, in a companion to her acclaimed story Pearl.

Coral, Filly, and Manta live on a sunlit reef teeming with sea life. When Coral comes upon an empty hollow at the heart of the reef and tries to keep it as her very own, Filly and Manta are banished. All that grows in the wake of her anger is regret, and Coral must find a way to turn the tide...but she can't do it alone.

Caldecott Honor-winning author and artist Molly Idle has brilliantly illustrated a tale both timeless and timely, about the power of collaboration and the profound importance of caring for our environment...and one another.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316465717
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/19/2020
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	608,673
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Molly Idle's work as an author-illustrator includes the Caldecott Honor Book Flora and the Flamingo, Flora and the Penguin, Flora and the Peacocks, Flora and the Chicks, Flora and the Ostrich, and Tea Rex, Camp Rex, Sea Rex, and Santa Rex, among other books, including Pearl, an original fable about a mermaid who learns the power of one small act. She lives with her family in Arizona, and invites you to visit her at idleillustration.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Pearl:

An Amazon Best Book of the Year 2018
An Amazon Best Book of the Month for October 2018

* "For her fable about patience and perseverance, Idle has created stunning watery spreads, full of curves reflecting the gently scalloped edges of the giant clam that is Pearl's home.... Careful word choice and thoughtful phrasing make this a pleasure to read aloud. A gentle, glowing lesson that even the smallest efforts can lead to large, even environmental results." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "This contemporary fable is sure to captivate." --School Library Connection, starred review

"Glorious." --School Library Journal

"The story soars toward a light-filled, celestial conclusion." --Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

04/01/2020

PreS-Gr 1—In this companion to Pearl, Idle tells the tale of three mermaids—Coral, who creates the reef; Filly, who looks after the fish in the reef; and Manta, who raises the sharks and rays that eat the reef fish, keeping it in balance. The three live in harmony, each doing their part to keep the reef healthy, until one day Coral finds an empty hollow in the reef and decides that she wants to be alone and keep it to herself. When her friends find her there, in a flash of anger, she banishes them from her empty spot on the reef. Amid a now colorless, lifeless reef, Coral realizes her mistake and she sets out to make it right. A full-page spread with Coral on one side shows her reaching out to her friends on the opposite side. She tells them she can't make it a home without them. The three then restore life—and color—back to the reef, making it their home again. The colorful illustrations are reminiscent of an animated, kid-friendly short film and will appeal to young readers. VERDICT A vibrant offering with an environmentally friendly message about collaboration and the interconnectedness that exists in nature and life in order to maintain an essential balance and optimal results. Fans of the first installment will be thrilled with this follow-up.—Megan Kilgallen, Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn

School Library Journal

2020-02-09
Mermaids share a message.

Mermaids Coral, Filly, and Manta work together to create the reef they call their home. But when Coral hides in a secluded nook she hopes to keep for herself, she discovers the emptiness that can result from not sharing. Idle, creator of the much-loved Flora series, returns to the underwater world she created for Pearl (2018) with this clever metaphorical depiction of the parts of a flourishing reef: the coral that constructs the reef itself, the fish that feed there, and the sharks and rays that keep it balanced. But her gentle fable resonates beyond the environmental level. The mermaids’ conversation sounds like squabbling siblings: “You’ve ruined everything!” and “All you make is a mess!” With colored pencils, she’s created a glowing, pastel-hued underwater world inhabited by three mermaids (Coral’s pink, Manta’s blue, and Filly’s a brown-toned yellow). (In a particularly nice design touch, the watery landscape of the back-cover flap exactly meets the pattern of the endpaper.) Her mermaids don’t sparkle; they, too, almost glow, matching the tones of their environment, and they reject clichéd mermaid imagery, instead appearing more as armed, anthropomorphic fish than human women with fish tales. During the quarrel, both color and background fade away. Coral goes white with anger, reflecting the color of a distressed reef, before her color returns as they reconcile.

Words and pictures also cooperate to deliver a gentle but important lesson. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews