The Mermaid's Shoes by Sanne te Loo

I can not for the life of me place the website where I found out about this beautiful book, but I'm so glad I quickly got on my library's website to see if they had it. I noticed the pictures, first, which really are the prize of this children's book. The Mermaid's Shoes is written and illustrated by Sanne te Loo, and is as I noted on instagram earlier in the week, possibly the most beautiful book I've seen of 2014.  

My photos don't do the book justice, and you really should just buy it. With a price tag like this one for a large (nearly oversize) hardback children's book, it's worth the real estate. I was so glad my library offered to buy this book once I put in a request.

The story is about a little girl named Mia who finds a pair of unclaimed flippers on her last day of her family's vacation by the sea. She recognizes them immediately as mermaid shoes. After that day she is only seen with her mermaid shoes, traipsing through town, creating fins and a mermaid's tale, and exploring the sea in other ways through play and place.

 She even inspires a couple other international friends to join her.

Although I do find the illustrations to be stronger than the story, it's a very sweet and quiet tale (see what I did there) about play, imagination, and ultimately, creativity and resourcefulness. I hope to see more books by Sanne te Loo in the future.