This early chapter book series is sure to be popular based on the cover alone!
Mari is a mermaid who learns about pollution and trash in the ocean. Her dad King Triton sends her on a mission to trade her fins for legs and teach humans about the dangers of pollution. What follows is a humorous navigation of adjusting to the human world and a discussion of true friendship versus popularity.
The book has black and white illustrations on every page spread with Mari, her mom, and some of the other mermaids having slightly darker skin than other characters. There are cues throughout the book to encourage readers to keep going like a chapter count off and notes about how many words or pages the reader has finished so far. The back matter has a great environmentally friendly craft. This will be a great series for reluctant readers especially as the open ending will leave readers searching for book 2.

This is a really sweet children’s book about Mari, a mermaid princess, who’s always late to everything - she always makes time to help a friend in need. One day, her mother, Queen Sirena, asks her to go undercover on a land mission to help humans care more about the ocean. She poses as an exchange student from Finland and is welcomed by Stevie and her mother.

This was a quick read, it had touches of humour which I enjoyed especially when Mari is clueless as to what everyday human things are. It’s got a great conservation and recycling message and an art project you can make at the end. The illustrations are beautiful. My only complaint is that I wish we’d spent more time underwater - I love mermaids and I’d have loved to explore the oceans with Mari more!

My endless thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC!

Mermaid Mission is the first book in a new early reader chapter book series, The Fintastical Tales of Mari A. Fisch. The story follows mergirl and princess Mari as she goes above water to determine how to make people care about taking care of the oceans. This is a cute series for new readers, with short chapters, illustrations throughout, and even little reading encouragements along the way. As a parent, I enjoyed the puns, observations about people, and messages about sustainability, being true to yourself, and standing up for what is right. However, the story ended very abruptly, so it seems these books won't be stand-alone reads but rather serve as a continuation for the series.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books for gifting me with an ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

My daughter enjoyed this story of a mermaid who is sent on a mission to teach humans to clean up the ocean. I wasn’t as impressed with the story (the message felt a little forced), but I appreciated the values that were being taught. Friendship, popularity, standing up for what is right, eco-friendly practices were all touched on in this easy to read story. The pictures were cute and engaging.

We really wanted to love this story more. The overall plot was good - but my daughter got bored pretty quickly. The illustrations and the chapter counter with the seashells was really cute.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for letting me read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was pretty cute. I liked how at the end of each chapter there was a little note that encouraged the reader to read more and at the very end of the book there was a congratulations for finishing the book. This is about Mari a mermaid princess who has to go to land to fix the pollution problem affecting her home. This was a cute way to get readers more interested about pollution and how humans are affecting the earth.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun book about mermaids. Kids will love this book. It was so cute.

A fun and short chapter book about a mermaid’s life. My children 4 and 6 enjoyed this one. The illustrations were captivating.

This was a cute start to the series, it had that overall feel that I was looking for and enjoyed the use of mermaids for the children’s fiction novel. Monica Brown was able to create a fun and engaging story that will leave the readers wanting more.