Meet Mim by Sandra Severgnini

A beautiful watery cover beckons the reader inside, if only to see whose tail it is inscribing the title, the ink dripping down the page.

Enticingly, the title page has two tails beckoning the reader again to look further. A dozen double pages give more clues as to this sea animal as we see images of the thing it has changed itself into on the ocean floor. Mim is a brown flatfish gliding along the ocean floor, then Mim is a sea snake twirling between the tree roots, Mim is a jellyfish floating in the ocean, then Mim is an anemone, its many arms floating above the sand, next she is a seahorse, then a feather star, and a stingray, then a sea shell, mantis shrimp, and over the next page we find out that she is: a mimic octopus.  Over the page are several pages showing the animals that the mimic octopus can change into, all mentioned in the text. 

The illustrations are glorious, using a variety of methods, including pencils, erasers and the computer, to create the watery feeling of the environment the mimic lives in. Each page reveals a different aspect of the sea below, the animals and fauna that exist there along with the octopus.The endpapers are fascinating, the first showing an array of the animals the octopus can mimic, while the last endpaper shows the octopus in all her glory as herself.  And the five fabulous facts about the mimic octopus will keep readers amused for much longer. And the book will be one often borrowed. I loved looking at where her eyes were each time she changed shape, and I am sure younger readers will spot other things to focus on, as the book offers so much. 

Themes: Mimic Octopus, Marine life, Sea creatures, Ocean, Mimicry.

Fran Knight