Meerkat Mail
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| Emily Gravett |
| Macmillan |
| 1405052155 |
| Aug 2006 |
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Having just won the Carnegie medal for her debut picture-book “Wolves”, Emily Gravett makes a welcome return with “Meerkat Mail” a story of the meerkat, Sunny, who sometimes finds togetherness with his family a little too close for comfort…
Living in the Kalahari Desert with his large family makes Sunny long for a place of his own. So it is he packs his case, leaves a note of explanation for his family – replicated in photographic form within the book – and sets off to find a new home. Sunny’s travels lead him to his Uncle Bob’s, to stay with cousins Scratch and Mitch , to cousin Edward and to numerous other family members. Lift-the-flap postcards presented ‘as-written-by-Sunny’ provide additional ‘colour’ to the story giving an intimate account of Sunny’s adventures. Gravett’s observations of Meerkat behaviour is exceptional and creates a vibrant contrast with the detailed simulated facsimiles postcards from Sunny. This is a sophisticated and clever picture-book that benefits from multiple, close readings, that does not patronise its reader and that successfully widens both field and audience for the picture-book, admirable achievements worthy of celebration.
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