Annie Lumsden, The Girl from the Sea Written by David Almond. Reviewed by Annabel, Age 9

I have never read a book like this before because I do not think it can be described as a story; it is a tale.

The book starts with the main character, a girl called Annie Lumsden, telling you about her mum and where they live. She starts off not fitting into school because all the words and numbers she tries to learn don’t make sense to her and she can’t read them. Even the doctors don’t know what is wrong with her, but then one day her mum tells her a tale about a merman who might be her dad and I think that information helps her to understand and accept herself a bit better.

When Annie’s mum is telling her the tale on the beach a man called Benn comes walking along and he takes a picture of Annie and her mum. This photograph makes me think a lot about Annie’s life because by the end of the story the photograph means a lot to her.

There are lots of really interesting characters in the story (and they are all friendly). My favourite character is Annie’s mum because she is the one who tells tales that I find really interesting. She doesn’t just make up tales, she also makes things out of shells and paints rocks. The most unusual character is the merman because he is not an actual person and we don’t get to meet him in the book.

I really like the way that David Almond writes. His descriptions are mesmerising sometimes. I also like the way he describes people and says that they are like the things they love. For example he describes Annie using words from the sea and Benn using words that show how much he likes travelling. I like this because the descriptive writing makes me think Annie is a bit magical and it makes me feel like she is the sea!

I think the illustrations fit the tale well because they are watery, like the sea. Beatrice Alemagna has made Annie look like a fish and her dress look like scales so it helps to show how much at home she is in the sea. I really like looking through the pictures because they are calming and give me a sense of the sea.

I read this book for the first time with my mum and it was good to read it together, but then I read it again on my own and it was just as good the second time. It is not a long book I think because it is a tale, but you will want to read it more than once because the characters are so friendly and the pictures are so lovely.

I would recommend Annie Lumsden, Girl from the Sea to everyone.