Zandi's Song by Zandile Ndhlovu is an inspiring and beautifully crafted story that celebrates resilience, identity, and the power of finding your voice. Through vivid storytelling, Ndhlovu captures the journey of a young woman navigating personal and cultural challenges while striving to carve out her path. The narrative is deeply rooted in themes of self-discovery and empowerment, blending lyrical prose with a heartfelt exploration of heritage and purpose. Zandi’s determination and growth make her a relatable and compelling protagonist, and her story resonates with anyone who has ever sought to overcome obstacles and embrace their true self. This book is a moving testament to courage and the transformative power of staying true to oneself.

This is an absolutely beautiful book! It has a story about the overhunting of whales and trashing the ocean. Every kid who wants to be a mermaid will love this book. I’m looking for a copy for my niece.

This is a lovely story. It’s about a little girl who is given a chance to be a mermaid and explore oceans. She is taught the lessons by the ocean to help keep it clean and help care for the animals because what we do as humans can be destructive to their habitat and their lifecycle. It does it in a lovely way that can get a bit repetitive but overall, this is a lovely book to read.

Zandi's Song is such a beautiful story. I loved learning more about oceanic conservation as well as colonization. This should be required reading!

A girl who always dreams of the ocean is called to the ocean and given a task for which she has been made: be the voice to protect the ocean and its inhabitants. This is an unexpected tale of conservation and history.

From an author who says the sea meant little to her as a child, and yet is now not only a campaigner for the oceans but a free diving instructor of all things, a book that has a young heroine almost forced to join in with the campaigning. Zandi can hear the call of the sea, and when promised no harm from it whatsoever – this clearly a sea without toxic critters and undercurrents and whatnot – she meets with the Goddess of the Sea, who demands Zandi get the basics on plastics pollution and the whaling history, and then goes back to her people to tell them all about it.

As such the book is pretty much on the heavy-handed side – the story is all about the formation of a disciple for the sea, and that's what it's trying to generate from within its audience, with not a heck of a lot of narrative enjoyment to sugar-coat the pill. That said, the sense of wonder from the visuals, as our lead turns into a young black mermaid and gets to see everything the sea has to offer, is certainly enough to make this better than some. Three and a half stars, then.

This was a stunning story, and the art was so vibrant and immersive. A gorgeous tale weaving environmental issues and South African heritage and fable together, all in a peudo-autobiographical story. I loved seeing different Black profiles, hairstyles, body shapes, and fashion represented. The history highlighted had me in tears, and the rest of the story was so hopeful.

It felt like this book wanted to do a bit too many things at once. It spent a lot of time going over the different ways pollution is hurting the ocean life. In a very short time span we were introduced both to the main character and didn't really get to know anything about her, before we are suddenly greeted by this ocean goddess and then there was this village with these people and their relationship to the whales and how outsiders destroyed it...
There were some good ideas in this one, but I really think it should have been spread out to several books rather than be included in one.

This beautiful picture book tells the enchanting tale of mermaids, magic and the beauty of the ocean. A young girl hears the call of the ocean embodied into a human shaped wave named Maya. The ocean magically changes Zandi into a mermaid and takes her on a tour through the ocean depths. The illustrations by Katlego Keokgale are captivating. The charming pictures had me humming "Under the Sea." The cute sealife makes the trash littering the ocean floor and entangling the fish that much more startling. In the story, Maya tells Zandi that when she returns to land, it is her mission in life to tell the world to protect the oceans. This book is the author's way of doing the same. This would be a perfect addition to an Earth Day program or Ecology lesson.

This book was so beautiful, from the stunning illustrations to the important message of protecting our oceans. This book is a good introduction to children of how harmful littering can be.

I received a copy from Amazon Crossing Kids via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story is a must read for girls of color. I feel very much seen and heard as i read this story. I feel like you really can not go wrong with diverse stories for a younger audience. Main character has much depth and was a joy to read! I mostly loved the artwork as it added so much more to the story as I am a more visual reader, at times I even felt like I could be a mermaid.Will be gifting to a nice amount of younger readers I know!

Zandi's Song by Zandile Ndhlovu is a sweet, cute story about a little girl becoming a mermaid and fighting for the oceans. It's so sweet and such a good book to introduce the topic of litter and conservation. The illustrations are well done and beautiful.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Crossing Kids for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Zandi’s Song by Zandile Ndhlovu is a South African picture book discussing conservation efforts and the amount of plastic in the ocean. When Zandi is in her room, the ocean calls to her, transforming her into a mermaid and showing her the past and present of the waters of their homeland.

The art is so cute and colorful and full of small details. The ocean scenes were all rendered so beautifully by illustrator Katlego Keokgale and helped add a dreamy, fairy tale atmosphere that didn’t detract from the ecological message.

The prose and art together provide opportunities for educators, parents, guardians, and young readers to have start conversations around colonization, trash and plastic and where it ends up, and how society shifts in response to outside influences. Zandi’s hair is originally an afro and is transformed into braids when she becomes a mermaid and attention is drawn to multiple women in her family having braids, drawing attention to Black hairstyles.

I would recommend this to guardians, parents, and educators who are looking for picture books featuring strong messages in favor of recycling, for young readers who love mermaids, and for classroom settings discussing colonization and how it impacted so many peoples.

Lovely mermaid story with wonderful illustrations. My daughter will love it!. I love pollution message in this story, I feel like it is a very important topic that kids should be aware of, and every little bit helps.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the beautiful fantastical cover and the inspiring author’s note. The start of the story was great too! It reminded me of the movie Moana, which I love.

When Zandi enters the ocean she’s been thinking and dreaming of a lot, it makes her feel safe and at home. It also transforms her into a magical being and shows her all the wonders it holds but also the trash polluting it and how sea creatures can become entangled in it. It asks her to spread the word!

This book brings kids closer to underwater nature and animals and reminds them not to litter but unfortunately after the beautiful magical start, it didn’t succeed at keeping my attention. The text on every page could get pretty long and boring and I didn’t like the part where whale’s sometimes sacrificed themselves for humans so they would have food.

I will remember the message and the beautiful illustrations.

Thank you for allowing me to read this ARC.

Zandi's Song is a beautifully illustrated children's book about a young girl learning about the troubles that the ocean and it's creatures face do to people that disregard thier importance. The moral of the story being that even though you are young you can still use your voice to help those who may not have one.

I did think that Zandi going to the ocean and not telling anyone while also not being a strong swimmer (prior to the mermaid tail) was not a good idea especially bc kids her age are still learning about fantasy vs reality. But that was my only criticism other than that i thought the book was very educational and beautifully drawn

4.5/5 stars :]

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Crossing Kids for the opportunity to read and review this book for my students. This was a beautiful yet adorable picture book that helps children learn about how awful the ocean is being treated and how beautiful black mermaids look. I think though for me personally, the students who would personally be using this book, they would need to pronounce the more advanced vocabulary words. Because of these points, I have to give this a 4 out of 5 stars

The illustrations and the graphics are really beautiful. It's a visual treat, however the story felt a bit too rushed. I think the message was noteworthy, but the execution diluted it too much. It could've been a much more impactful story.

I adored this book, super fun to read with my niece. The illustrations were some of the best I've seen in a children's book.

This is truly beautifully illustrated, and I loved the premise, however the story seems a little lacking, like it’s missing more? I also had an issue with whales sacrificing themselves for humans, not sure I would read that part to kids, even if it is fiction.