Thank you Net Galley and Random House Children’s for a copy of Mermaid Academy #1: Cora & Sparkle in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great introductory Fantasy book for young girls (and boys!). As a fellow Mermaid obsessed preteen, I am so excited for my daughter to read these books, I know she will adore them. I love the illustrations throughout the book. The chapters are the perfect length for kids at this reading level. I love the examples from Cora of difficulties that can pop up in friendships when you don’t see eye to eye. This story demonstrates staying true to yourself which ultimately as we know leads to self discovery and building confidence! I love to see these themes in my kids reading material.

My daughter really enjoyed the Unicorn Academy books so she was super excited to receive this Mermaid Academy book. She loved that there were pictures a d said it helped her picture it in her head, She can't wait to get the printed copy of this.
I tried to get this to download on m Kindle, but with the new updates I couldn't get it to work so we had to read it on my tiny iPhone which was a pain, but we really loved the book so it made up for it.

Thank y0u to the author and NetGalley for this ARC!!

My daughter, 8, really liked this story! She thought that it was adventurous enough to keep her interested. However, she feels the "academy" feel of books is a bit overused. Overall 4 stars!

I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love that early chapter books are being written at such a speed these days. This is a really nice little addition to what's already available. Kids are going to love this series. I am hopeful that in future books we'll hear more about the boys at the school and the dolphins that they pair with. In the meantime-this book is definitely not just for girls.

Could not get this book to send to the kindle so my daughter and I only Skimmed it. She did enjoy the topic and thought it looked like a good series. We are going to try to get some of the books from the library to read.

This was precious! I really enjoyed this sweet story and am looking forward to reading more of these with the first grade girl that I babysit. Shy Cora was our favorite character, so we’re excited to read her story next!

Oh my goodness, the illustrations are adorable. They’re so detailed! I loved seeing all the different mermaids’ hair. My favorite illustration was the full page spread when the girls first see their dorm.

I adored all the different relationships ships that were explored. The twin bond between Cora and Isobel; the four roommates of Moon Pearl dorm; friendly competition between different dorms; pairing roommates up that are from different oceans and cultures; the bonding between mermaids and dolphins; mermaids (humanoids) interacting with creation (especially the wooly seahorses); mermaids and their magic powers. There was a lot more nuance that I expected from a book for early readers! All the different relationships gave me a lot to talk about with the first grader that I read this with. <3