Here was the problem. Tundra sent me both of these lovely books and I wanted to review them both at the same time with the same breath and then I realized I could write them in one post, but then I thought maybe the creators would prefer not, and then I realized they actually all get on really well and so do the books, so I should stop fussing and start writing. “Stop fussing and start writing” honestly sounds like what my father would say, so I would like to dedicate this post to my father, glancing up from his crossword at the kitchen counter and telling me to stop procrastinating, already, and get it over with. The thing is, though, that these aren’t “get it over with” things to write about. What these books, both of them, are is your summer vacation between two sets of covers. These books are absolutely, positively delicious. I’ll start with I Am a Meadow Mermaid by dream duo Kallie George with illustrator Elly MacKay, and then you may or may not ever get me to shut up about The Hidden World of Gnomes by Lauren Soloy, of I’s the B’y fame (among others, but I will never be allowed to stop singing that one, nor do I want to).

What these two books have in common is a completely unpatronizing and unpretentious way of talking about the world of the imagination, without ever saying so, and do I ever appreciate that.

I Am a Meadow Mermaid is the story of a girl daydreaming and playing she’s a mermaid out in the meadow, and the experience of going with her through her play to a surprising but tender conclusion is, in itself, a daydream. I’m saying that straight up because I’m having a very hard time going into this review without immediately plunging to the end, and I don’t want to– because I want you, with a child in your lap or at a storytime for preference, to experience that unfolding conclusion on your own.

The truth is that not everyone could have made this book without it being coy and flirting with the idea that “we all know this isn’t real, is it?” Which would have been a disaster. But the creators of this book, Kallie George and Elly MacKay, and their editor at Tundra, all dreamed of being mermaids as children. And so they approached the whole idea of play with full respect and, I think, more than a little wistfulness. But the opening doesn’t feel that way; the first page is uninhibited joy: a girl, arms raised and hair flowing over the waves of the prairie, declaring “I am a meadow mermaid.” The unimpressed cat behind her sits on a post, as cats do, but she looks up and out, knowing the truth. She tells us what she feels and hears and sees, “I see the sea in the sky, starfish in the stars, a whale’s tail in a slip of the moon.” (Maybe you have? I wasn’t that kid– I was extremely busy searching for fairies and gnomes, thank you– see below.) But our meadow mermaid is hoping to hear another mermaid, we think, when, instead, she hears a stranded sailor: “I am a meadow mermaid,” she introduces herself. “I’m Milla,” says the sailor. She helps Milla, and where there was one, there are now two. I’ll stop there, you can read the rest.

Elly MacKay’s art, as always, is suffused with light to suit the atmosphere. It was the perfect choice for this story, one of dreams and marked by the four elements– the meadow mermaid dreams of air and water as she plays under the fire of the sun over the earth of the prairie. I don’t think any other illustrator could have captured that so well, or could have swept us up in the sentiment without getting sentimental.

On the very other side, down out of the clouds and into the dirt, we have The Hidden World of Gnomes, who, as I said, were absolutely my people when I was a kid. I may have played mermaids in the swimming pool or at the beach, but for me– it was the world of the little folk, the fairies and gnomes, that got me. I had every encyclopedia of fairies and elves I could get with my babysitting money. I was shocked, when I grew up, to find that there was one I did not own– Wil Huygen and Rien Poortvliet’s opus, Gnomes. For any child who is headed in that direction, they will first need Lauren Soloy’s introductory work, The Hidden World of Gnomes, which sent me straight back to being age 8 and determining that the reason I couldn’t see the hidden folk was because they didn’t want to be seen, so maybe, just maybe, if I stopped looking, I’d see one out of the corner of my eye.

Lauren Soloy brings us right to The Pocket to meet them. “Where is The Pocket, you ask? Well, it’s all around you, all the time.” And, she tells us, their hearts are big enough “to hold the entire world and all the plants, animals, and fungi that live there.” And then we’re launched into my favourite, absolutely favourite, kind of book from when I was small. A big, thick picture book that you can explore forever because it’s not just one narrative, it’s encyclopedic in style. We get the calendar of the gnomes, including their celebrations and their milestones. We’re introduced to key people, such as Minoletta the storyteller and Abel Potter with his friend Billy Buttons the woody pig. She tells us about the Mushroom Moon when the gnomes have mushroom gathering parties and about leaf riding in the fall and snail stacking (played until the snails get bored). And, oh my heart as a kid would have burst with joy– we are given Bonnie Plum’s own recipe for Gnome Cookies (which seem a bit like shortbread to me, though sweetened with honey and maple syrup).

As I said at the top, I think these are two of the best books to get right now (well, The Hidden World of Gnomes you can preorder for June 20) so you can enjoy them with your kids over summer vacation. Who will they dream of being this summer? And do you think they might want to look for The Pocket, or will they take an interest in exploring all those little details the gnomes love so much, from planting seeds to writing and receiving letters, to making gnome cookies? I encourage you to get these and find out what joys you can find together!