This was a little fun quick read, I enjoyed this, I think this book would have been awesome as a graphic novel.

A Field Guide to Mermaids

The gorgeous, intricately illustrated volume must be seen in print to be fully appreciatied: the pictures are truly outstanding, The combination of fact and fantasy is fascinating . The author makes the existence of these magical creatures plausible. Also.we are given a reason and motive to preserve and protect these microenvironments.

This is a great book for children and adults.

What a fun and unique book this is! If you are a fan of mermaids, folklore, or mythological creatures, this book is worth a snag. This book covers anything and everything you would want to know about mermaids, specifically in the United States, such as: anatomy, life cycle, habitats, and the species of mermaids in each habitat.

This book is a great book to randomly flip through, and the folklore and photos inside are well done. I especially like the details on how mermaids are adapted specifically to their environment, so all mermaids are definitely not the same!

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This guide is a LOT of fun. The illustrations are gorgeous and I loved how the mermaids are from all over the world!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I was unable to provide review due to time constraints of me starting college. I look forward however to reading this book in the future simply as a fan, not a reviewer.

I loved the imagination in this book. They took real life settings and added in the magical world of mermaids. I will be buying a copy for the library and my own child.

A fantastic scientific fantasy that reads like a nonfiction. I absolutely adored the illustrations. Such beautiful talent Martin has!!

In this beautifully illustrated gem of a book, Emily B. Martin has written her story in a new genre in this fantasy book disguised as a non fiction field guide to different types of merfolk. The illustrations are breathtaking and the descriptions are dazzling and make ecological sense, while still appealing to the imaginative brain and filling your mind with the "what if" of it all.

Absolutely perfect, adorable, beautiful book!
Written as a scientific guide in a world where mermaids exist. Beautifully illustrated. The myths, and 'science' are beautifully tied together and absolutely magical.

A Field Guide to Mermaids is an imaginative yet educational children's book detailing the fascinating ecosystems of our world's mermaids.

Though mermaids were the subject of this book, I learned a lot about the world's waterways. This book was beautifully illustrated, unique, and informative. I would recommend this to any child who is interested in mermaids, folklore, and science/conservation.

I don't have anything by way of constructive criticism. This was an excellent read, and it is something that would've gotten me interested in science and the environment when I was a child. I'm looking forward to gifting this to my niece in the future.

A Field Guide to Mermaids by Emily B. Martin is an incredibly insightful and magical read. Using gorgeous illustrations and her knowledge of our different aquatic ecosystems, Martin created a book that is an exciting learning tool. It is important to not that this is not a traditional "story." It is descriptions of different aquatic environments on our Earth, and what mermaids look like there (as if they were real).
Any young reader who is interested in either the environment or mermaids will be interested in this. It would be such a beautiful physical book to own. The illustrations were so eyecatching and detailed. You can learn a significant amount about our world's different aquatic environments, the creatures that live there, and interesting facts about lesser known creatures (like bioluminescent fish).
I think this would be a super fun addition to any young reader's library, as well as in schools.

I enjoyed this book and I liked the mix of actual science and fantasy elements to make this book both educational and entertaining!

This book is very beautiful illustrated. The text reads as if it’s a real scientific field guide about mermaids.

The mermaids are given such a real and detailed account of where they live, why they live there, how they survive, and other details such as food.

This book also focuses a lot on conservation and other environmental issues.

If you’re looking for a more whimsical book on mermaids that has some magic in it this isn’t the book for you. I was hoping for more whimsy and magic.

Overall, if you know what this book is about and that it’s more like a science book and that excites you then pick it up! The art alone makes it a worthwhile purchase.

My six year old daughter enjoyed the pictures in this a lot but the content was definitely too methodical for her attention span. We read this over a week together but it was a struggle to keep her listening once she was done studying the illustrations. This will be a bit hit once she pre-teen/teenage!

Thank you for the arc Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group.

A cutely illustrated "field guide" to many types of mermaids, including rarely seen freshwater merfolk. Colorful illustrations and descriptions lend a whimsical feel to this anthology.

A Field Guide to Mermaids by Emily B. Martin is super cute! Great for all ages and love the illustrations. Great to spark the imagination, especially for young readers!

I received an advance copy of this book via Netgalley.

<i>A Field Guide to Mermaids</i> is an intelligent, gorgeous book, one that will be beloved by the intended middle grade audience but also dazzle adults. It sure dazzled me. Martin has worked for years as a park ranger, and her breadth of knowledge on ecology and biology added insight to her previous novels for adults; here, in this fantasy book written as a nonfiction field guide to mermaids as found on contemporary Earth, her expertise and incredible artistic skill are in the forefront.

The subject is regarded with absolute seriousness. Mermaids are discussed in terms of the types of tails they have and why these features would matter in their environment, what nearby creatures they resemble and work with in symbiosis, and how they have changed due to industrialization and pollution. The book is divided by the types of water bodies in which mermaids may be found. Every page is lavishly illustrated. The variety of perspectives and the rainbow of colors are a delight to the eyes. In all truth, most every page here would be a joy to have framed on a wall.

The book also delights the mind. Martin whips out advanced terminology in ecology and trusts that kids will get it--and they will. Martin's mermaids are based on the sound science of existing creatures. I learned some handy new words for defining different characteristics, and I imagine most people will finish this book feeling the same.

I think it is very cool and smart how this book takes a fantasy topic that will draw kids in (mermaids) and uses it to share information about ecosystems and conservation! The art was beautiful as well.

You can tell the author is a park ranger, because this reads just like a guide you might get when going to a national park or hiking trails. Part guide, part fantasy-inspired wildlife encyclopedia, this book takes a look at mermaids as if writing a nonfiction guide book. There's information about the environments you can find them in (basically anywhere with water) as well as what wildlife is seen around them, and how to seeking out these locations in an environmentally conscious way. The focus is on areas of the United States where mermaids live, and each area comes with its own brief description of the location and type of mermaid, as well as an illustration of the mermaid in that setting. The drawings are beautiful, and so fun to look at. There's a lot of creativity that went into this book (there's pages for a hot springs mermaid and one that lives in puddles in the desert, among others) and it's obvious the author took a factual approach when creating her mermaids, since all of the designs are perfectly suited for the area discussed. I loved this, it's a short book, but packed with info and fantastic illustrations.