A FIN-TASTIC SURPRISE, by Valerie Tripp and Thu Thai, American Girl Publishing, June 6, 2023, Paperback, $5.99 (ages 6-8)
The WellieWishers liven up a hot, ho-hum day with an imaginary adventure as mer-friends in A Fin-Tastic Surprise, by Valerie Tripp and Thi Thai.
“”Let’s play mermaids,”” Camille says one hot day. The WellieWishers imagine an underwater world full of colorful coral reefs and friendly sea creatures. When Camille and Willa discover a sunken ship, they have a great idea for surprising their friends—then, Camille comes up with an even bigger surprise! Will the others help her pull it off? —Synopsis provided by American Girl Publishing
A Fin-Tastic Surprise is one of two new books in American Girl’s WellieWisher line. (The other new one is Ready to be Royal. That brings the series to a total of 11 early chapter books.
Like most early chapter books, WellieWishers are a sort of picture/chapter book hybrid, featuring new illustrations with each turn of the page. The writing and overall plots are simple and straightforward. The girls’ interactions and friendships take center stage and are the highlight of each book. Each book also includes ideas for activities that girls and parents can do together.
In the case of A Fin-Tastic Surprise, most of the story takes place in an imaginary underwater land. Artist Thu Thai’s full-color illustrations are bright and lively. And Valerie Tripp (author of the original American Girl books — Kirsten, Samantha and Molly) provides simple and straightforward text that is perfect for emerging independent readers.
At 72 pages, it’s short enough to not be overwhelming, but gives readers the confidence of reading chapter books. Though the suggested publisher’s age range is ages 6-8, kids as young as 4 would enjoy listening to A Fin-Tastic Surprise read aloud.
We are big WellieWisher fans at our house, and I’ve seen first-hand how the books inspire independent play both with the corresponding dolls and other toys we have in our house. This series is a good, straightforward option for kids moving into chapter books.
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