Title: Bad Mermaids
Author: Sibéal Pounder
Illustrator: Jason Cockroft
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s

Teacher review

We are huge Sibéal Pounder fans in my family. The Witch Wars series has been read numerous times and my daughter is obsessed with the books. So when I was given the opportunity to read and review a copy of Bad Mermaids I was thrilled. It was a joy to be able to share my love for this author’s work with a small group of girls at Carfield Primary School.

Bad Mermaids is the first book in an exciting new series. Our three intrepid heroines are Beattie, Mimi and Zelda, accompanied by the talking sea-horse Steve. The queen of the mermaids has been fishnapped, and it’s down to our courageous protagonists to save the day. Things won’t be easy, as there are bad mermaids in town and they won’t go down without a fight... Oh, and the baddies have vicious piranhas on their side.

Everything about this book is delightful. The mermaids are physically different, depending on the town they were born in. In Hammerhead Heights they have a shark’s tail, in Lobstertown - yep, you guessed it: a lobster tail. Five different cities, five very different types of mermaids.

Sibéal Pounder’s ingenious writing, along with Jason Cockcroft‘s wonderful illustrations, make this magical adventure come to life.

With fun articles from the mermaid newspaper, Clamzine, tucked in between the different chapters, and hilarious puns throughout, Bad Mermaids is a brilliant underwater adventure.

Anna Tomlinson is a supply teaching assistant at Carfield Primary School, in Sheffield. She writes a book blog, and tweets as @scoutfinch_75

Pupil reviews

‘For seven-year-olds to 20-year-olds’

Bad Mermaids is an awesome book. The characters are funny and I love the way that Sibéal Pounder makes up words that sound a lot like human words but aren’t. My favourite chapters are four and five, but I won’t tell you why.

I think that this book suits seven-year-olds to 20-year-olds even though it’s a children’s book! I could read it every day.

My favourite character is Mimi because she likes martial arts, she’s funny and I feel just like her.

Sasha, age 9
 

‘Comedy and fantasy style’

Bad Mermaids is a funny and exciting story about three mermaids and a talking seahorse who go on an adventure together.

I’m a great fan of books in a comedy and fantasy style and this book was one of the best of its kind. The comedy starts at the beginning and you don’t ever have to wait long until the next funny thing happens. The fantasy is really well developed. I particularly enjoyed the imaginative ‘shockey match’ as that is where a lot of the action happens.

My favourite character is Zelda. I like her because she is funny and she uses human words to express her feelings e.g. “I will be as angry as an escalator,” and “It will be as easy as riding on a squirrel!” So she is really funny.

I would give this book 4 ½ stars out of five.

Erica, age 8 ⅚

‘Searching to find answers’

I really like this story because it is very funny.

This story is about three adventurous mermaids searching to find answers. My favourite character is Steve, the yellow talking seahorse, who wears glasses and a shell top. Steve is hilarious and his bedroom is a set of false teeth.

I recommend this story to seven- to 11-year-olds.

Miriam Rose, age 9

‘An extraordinary book’

Funny and exciting, Bad Mermaids is an extraordinary book that I would definitely recommend for eight- to 12-year-olds. Maybe even older!

I like the fact that Sibéal Pounder uses human words but changes them slightly into different mermaid-like words.

I can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out!

Holly, age 9

‘A really funny book’

It is a really funny book and I think it is suitable for seven- to 10-year-olds.

I like the way Sibéal Pounder uses proper words but changes them a bit to fit her mermaid world.

Eva, age 9

If you or your class would like to write a review for Tes, please contact Adi Bloom at adi.bloom@tesglobal.com

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