Search for the Mermicorn

Purrmaids #4

by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

AR Test

At A Glance

Interest Level

6+

Entertainment
Score

Reading Level
3.7

Number of Pages
96

Coral, Angel, and Shelly can’t wait to work on their school project about creatures in the ocean. There are so many animals to choose from! How do you pick just one? Then Angel remembers something she read about in a book–a mermicorn! It’s perfect…but are mermicorns real? Angel thinks so! And a student at the Science Center just might help her prove it!

The three purrmaid friends clearly love school and the library. As part of a class project, the purrmaids research sea animals and go to a science center to learn more. The purrmaids learn important sea creature facts that come into play later. The story reinforces the importance of learning about the natural world and respecting sea creatures.

As the friends research sea animals, they find a pod of narwhals and a lost mermicorn. The mermicorn tells the purrmaids, “Mermicorns like to stay out of sight. Our horns are just here to be pretty. We can’t use them to defend ourselves. So staying hidden is how we keep ourselves safe.” Even though the friends are excited to tell everyone that they met a mermicorn, they decide to keep the information secret so they do not endanger their new friend.

Search for the Mermicorn is perfect for readers who are able to read chapter books. The story has easy vocabulary, short sentences, and cute black-and-white illustrations approximately every three pages. Young readers will enjoy the puns such as “fin-tastic,” “shell-ivision,” “fin-teresting,” and “perr-fect.”

Even though Search for the Mermicorn is part of a series, the stories do not have to be read in order. The Purrmaid series takes readers on an underwater swim that teaches fin-tastic lessons as well as entertains. Readers who love animals should also add The Critter Club Series by Callie Barkley to their reading list.

Sexual Content