"In the vast sea of blue, some mermaids watched over the waves breaking upon the endless beaches. Some kept an eye on the great coral reefs." Others "tended to the towering forests of kelp rising from the ocean floor," or "guarded the giants of the deep." Pearl, a very young mermaid, yearns to have a job as important as these. But when she asks her mother what she can do to help, her mother gives her a single grain of sand to care for. One grain of sand, among all the billions? Pearl is baffled that a single grain of sand could be considered important, but her wise mother tells her, "The smallest of things can make a great difference." Disappointed, Pearl weeps and grows angry. Then, she notices a "faint light" coming from the grain... She follows through with her responsibility and is soon giving the tiny speck her full attention, protecting, polishing and even playing with it. And the grain responds by beginning to glow with a beautiful luster, growing into something Pearl--and the readers of her eponymous picture book--could never have anticipated.
In her lush and charming Pearl, Molly Idle, author and illustrator of Flora and the Peacocks, Flora and the Penguin and the Caldecott-winning Flora and the Flamingo, brings to life yet another enormously appealing protagonist. Idle's dreamy, colored-pencil illustrations evoke the watery deep in magical hues of blue and green. The lyrical language reveals a message of perseverance in the face of disappointment and frustration--a lesson from which all young mer-children may benefit. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor