Book Description
for Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett
From The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
Sunny Meerkat is hot, too hot in his Kalahari home. He’s tuckered out by the constant togetherness of his huge family. So he packs his bag and heads out to visit his mongoose relatives. Each stop takes him farther from his fam ily—but brings him closer, too. He survives mud, rains, swamps, and petrify ing dark—but he trudges on. Sunny mails postcards to his family detailing the disintegrating (to him) conditions he finds. Flip-up postcards relate more than his mood swings: details of other mongoose habits, living conditions, and even enemies. Although the conclusion is predictable, Gravett’s humor makes the trip a total pleasure. 2008 USBBY Outstanding International Books List. Author won the Kate Greenaway Medal, Macmillan Prize, and the Nestlé Bronze Award for her book Wolves . lmp
Originally published by Macmillan Children’s Books Great Britain, in 2006.