Creator Spotlight: Kallie George

At Tundra Books, we want you to get to know and love our creators as much as you know and love their books. Our creator spotlight series will introduce you to the people behind some of your favorite titles . . . this week, say hello to Kallie George!

About the Author:

KALLIE GEORGE is an author, editor and creative writing teacher. Her picture books include I Am a Meadow Mermaid, The Secret Fawn, and the Anne of Green Gables-inspired picture books If I Couldn’t Be Anne; Goodnight, Anne and Merry Christmas, Anne; as well as her chapter book series adapted from the Anne of Green Gables books. Kallie has written other acclaimed books for children, including I Hear You, Forest, as well as the chapter book series Crimson Twill, Bibbidi Bobbidi Academy, and Heartwood Hotel. She has also taught writing workshops for children and adults. Kallie always loves spending time at the beach, making sand cakes and other sandy treats with her family.

Spotlight on Kallie George:

What inspired you to write a story about a beachside baker?

Many of my book ideas come to me in different ways, but I would say overarchingly I’m outside when I think of ideas. I’m often hiking, exploring, or playing in nature. Sand Cakes was no different. I remember when I came up with it! I was with my older son, playing at the beach. I live on the West coast and spend a lot of time near the ocean. We were making cakes out of sand, instead of sand castles. We decorated them with shells and seaweed. The tide was rising, threatening to wash our cakes away. On the way home, the little song of “Sand-cake, sun cake, will you eat what I’ve baked” came into my head.

How did you come up with the idea of using sand as the main ingredient for the treats?

As I mentioned above, I was actually making a little sand cake instead of a sand castle. I think (if I can remember correctly) that my son and I didn’t bring any buckets or toys to the beach, and it was easier to pat a little cake out of the sand. I don’t remember now if it was me or him who called it a sand cake, I do know we pretended it was a birthday cake at one point and found a little sticks to be the candles.

How do you craft the poetic elements in your writing for young readers?

Each book is different. In this particular one, I use a simple rhyme pattern and lot of alliteration (“crispy-crusted”, “patted-perfect”), and repetition (“sand-cake, sun-cake”). There are long strings of adjectives in this book, almost like tongue twisters. I wanted it to be fun to read aloud. I suppose there’s a tradition of beachy tongue twisters, with “she sells sea shells by the seashore”!

Can you share any behind-the-scenes details about the making of this book? 

I really loved working on this with the Tundra team. We spent a lot of time on word choice – which descriptions worked the best. I tried to think of all the things that I’ve used to decorate sand castles and sand cakes at the beach – sea foam and sea glass, seaweed and sticks.

Do you have a favorite treat that the little baker makes in the book? Do you have a favorite illustration or spread?

Devon’s artwork is sublime. I absolutely adore the spreads where the sea “eats” the sand cakes. I love how, if you look very closely, you can even see a “face” in the waves. I LOVE the endpapers on this book too. I think my favorite treat that the baker makes are the sunbeam-butter-cream tarts. They should so good, I would eat one of those!

Books by Kallie George:

Sand Cakes
Written by Kallie George
Illustrated by Devon Holzwarth
48 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774882474 | Tundra Books
Available: April 22, 2025
Sand cake, Sun cake, Sprinkle-topped with rocks cake. Will you eat what I baked? A fun day at the beach means making some sweet treats to share with everyone! The main ingredient? Sand of course! No matter how yummy her rock-sprinkled cakes, seaweed pies and sea foam cream puffs look, this little beachside baker can’t seem to get ANYONE to eat her sandy sweets. Even the seagulls turn their beaks up! Will she ever find a customer willing to give them a try? Buoyantly poetic, this funny and sweet picture book from author Kallie George, featuring endearing illustrations from Devon Holzwarth, is a read-aloud treat for readers of all ages.

I Am a Meadow Mermaid
Written by Kallie George
Illustrated by Elly MacKay
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735271371 | Tundra Books
A little girl dreams of adventures in the water and feels the spirit of the ocean all around her . . . even though she lives on the prairie, with flat land as far as the eye can see. But she won’t let a little detail like that stand in the way of being a meadow mermaid! Frolicking in the “waves” of wheat and “oceans” of grass, spying sea horses and . . . a shipwrecked sailor? Even if that shipwreck is actually an overturned bike and the sailor a new kid from a neighboring field, it’s still a chance to make a new friend, one with an imagination as expansive and a love of the ocean as deep as the little girl’s own. This fanciful, whimsical picture book will charm young mermaids and little pirates everywhere, and inspire them to embrace the spirit of the ocean in the things around them, no matter where they live!

The Secret Fawn
Written by Kallie George
Illustrated by Elly MacKay
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735265165 | Tundra Books
A little girl is always missing out on the wonderful things her family gets to see and do, just because she is the youngest and smallest. She misses seeing shooting stars because she goes to bed too early; she can’t pick the first apple of autumn because she’s too short; and, this morning, everyone else got to see a deer . . . except her. She goes into her backyard in search of the deer, a sugar cube tucked in her pocket. She sees a flick of brown in the orchard – is that the deer? No, it’s just the neighbor’s friendly dog (shhhhh, Nala!). Is that it by the pond? No, that’s just a bird, playing in the water. Just when she’s about to give up, she spots a fawn, beautiful, quiet and small . . . just like her. The Secret Fawn beautifully captures the power of nature to inspire children and shows how connecting with animals can help kids who feel left out or overlooked.

If I Couldn’t Be Anne
Written by Kallie George
Illustrated by Geneviève Godbout
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781770499287 | Tundra Books
In this whimsical and magical picture book, Anne’s boundless imagination takes flight! She imagines being all the things she loves so dearly. If I Couldn’t Be Anne, Anne with an e, what would I be . . . Anne wonders what it would be like to be the wind dancing round the treetops. A tightrope walker, breathless and brave. A princess in a palace made of apple blossoms. A magical frost fairy or a plain little wood elf. . . . But even as Anne’s imagination soars far and wide, she comes back down to earth, recognizing that some things – like friendship! – are even better than the imagination.

Tuesdays with Tundra

Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. These titles are now available in stores and online!

I Am a Meadow Mermaid
By Kallie George
Illustrated by Elly MacKay
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735271371 | Tundra Books
A little girl dreams of adventures in the water and feels the spirit of the ocean all around her . . . even though she lives on the prairie, with flat land as far as the eye can see. But she won’t let a little detail like that stand in the way of being a meadow mermaid! Frolicking in the “waves” of wheat and “oceans” of grass, spying sea horses and . . . a shipwrecked sailor? Even if that shipwreck is actually an overturned bike and the sailor a new kid from a neighboring field, it’s still a chance to make a new friend, one with an imagination as expansive and a love of the ocean as deep as the little girl’s own. This fanciful, whimsical picture book will charm young mermaids and little pirates everywhere, and inspire them to embrace the spirit of the ocean in the things around them, no matter where they live!

Something More
By Jackie Khalilieh
336 Pages | Age 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774882139 | Tundra Books
Fifteen-year-old Jessie, a quirky loner obsessed with the nineties, is diagnosed as autistic just weeks before starting high school. Determined to make a fresh start and keep her diagnosis a secret, Jessie creates a list of goals that range from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical first kiss and landing a spot in the school play. Within the halls of Holy Trinity High, she finds a world where things are no longer black and white and quickly learns that living in color is much more fun. But Jessie gets more than she bargained for when two very different boys steal her heart, forcing her to go off-script.

Something More is also available today in Audiobook!

New in Paperback:

Followers
By Raziel Reid
336 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780735263826 | Tundra Books
After a disastrous date results in her arrest, sixteen-year-old Lily Rhode is horrified to discover her mugshot is leaked on a gossip website. Lily is the niece of Whitney Paley, a Hollywood housewife and star of reality show Platinum Triangle, a soap-opera-style docu-series in the vein of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and The Hills, revolving around several glamorous families living in the Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Holmby Hills neighborhoods of Los Angeles. When Lily’s mom kicks her out of their trailer home in the Valley, Whitney (Lily’s mom’s estranged sister) invites her to live with her, her movie-star husband, Patrick, and their daughter, Hailey. Lily is set up in the pool house and thrust into the company of reality-star offspring – kids who are born with silver spoon emojis on their feed. Lily’s cousin Hailey and the other teens have lived their entire lives on camera and are masters of deception, with Hailey leading the pack. As Lily learns from the Paleys how to navigate her newfound fame, she finds herself ensnared in the unfolding storylines. What Lily doesn’t know is that she’s just a pawn being used on the show to make the Paleys look sympathetic to viewers while distracting from on-set sexual misconduct rumors surrounding super hero dad Patrick Paley . . . Is Lily safe under Patrick’s roof? Or will Lily be Patrick’s downfall? If she isn’t destroyed by Hailey first. When Lily catches the eye of Hailey’s designated leading man Joel Strom – it’s war!

Narwhal’s School of Awesomeness
By Ben Clanton
80 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Paperback
ISBN 9780735262553 | Tundra Books
Dive into four new stories about Narwhal and Jelly becoming substitute teachers! The two best friends come across an enthusiastic school of fish one morning. Unfortunately, Mr. Blowfish, their teacher, has come down with a cold, and class will have to be cancelled . . . until Professor Knowell (Narwhal) and Super Teacher (Jelly) volunteer to help out! The first subject is Wafflematics, in which Narwhal and Jelly calculate the number of waffles needed to feed the class. That’s what we’re chalking about! Next up is a super-fun science scavenger hunt, followed by a game of “Tag! You’re Awesome!” at recess. Narwhal’s teaching methods may be unconventional, but with Jelly’s help, the two teach (and learn) with their trademark positivity and humor. Before they know it, the day is over . . . but what grade will Narwhal receive from Jelly?

We can’t wait to see you reading and listening to these titles! If you share these books online, remember to use #ReadTundra in your hashtags so that we can re-post.

Tundra Telegram: Books That Wish They Could Be Part of Your World

Hello, and thanks for joining us at Tundra Telegram, the column where we plunge into the topics swimming through readers’ heads and recommend some books you could splash out on (if so inclined), just for the halibut.

Fans and the worldwide box office went wild this past weekend for the live-action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago) and starring Halle Bailey as Ariel. The movie had a (sea) monster of an opening weekend, and has everyone humming “Under the Sea,” and hunting for a wacky seagull friend.

Since there seems to be a market for mermaid fare, we’re recommending mer-aculous books for all ages, from picture books to young adult. Dive in for some fin-tastic reads!

PICTURE BOOKS

Like Prince Eric and Ariel, but platonic, The Mermaid Moon by Briony May Smith celebrates a friendship between two best friends – one living on land, and the other on the water. Mermaid Merrin and human Molly are best friends with limited interaction until the Mermaid Moon Festival: the sole night of the year mermaids can leave the sea. (And you don’t even have to offer a sea-witch your voice!)

In things we already knew, Mermaids Are Real! says the title of a board book by Holly Hatam, who also brought us Unicorns Are Real! and Dragons Are Real! But not only does the book speak to mermaids’ veracity, it also notes they are vegetarian (which explains how Flounder and Sebastian got along with Ariel), along with many other mermaid fun facts.

Speaking of learning: schools aren’t just for fish; they’re also for mermaids, as seen in the picture book Mermaid School by Joanne Stewart Wetzel and Julianna Swaney. The book follows mermaid Molly’s first day at mermaid school, during which they count clamshells, recite the A B Seas, and even read outlandish stories about children who walk on land, in a fantastical underwater first day of school.

A celebration of every girl who dreamt of being a mermaid, Kate Pugsley‘s Mermaid Dreams tells the story of Maya, a shy little girl who falls asleep on the beach and finds herself transported underwater, where she lives as a mermaid with her other mermaid and sea creature friends. Even better – her aquatic adventure inspires her to reach out friends on the beach when she awakens.

A little girl turns into a mermaid eco-hero in Mermaid Kenzie: Protector of the Deeps by Charlotte Watson Sherman and Geneva Bowers. When Kenzie slips on her mermaid tail, she imagines herself as Mermaid Kenzie, protector of the deeps. One day as Kenzie snorkels around a shipwreck, she discovers more plastic bags than fish. Grabbing her spear and mermaid net, she begins to clean up the water and the shore – inspiring other kids to keep the oceans clean.

And mermaids give a little of the old razzle-dazzle in Brigitte Barrager‘s Harmony & Echo: The Mermaid Ballet. Super-chill mermaid Harmony is determined for her anxiety-plagued friend Echo to enjoy their debut performance in the big Mermaid Ballet. And the best way to overcome oceanic stage fright is coincidentally the same way to get to Carnegie Hall: practice!

You’ll have to wait until June 6, but landlocked mermaid lovers will be thrilled by Kallie George and Elly MacKay’s picture book, I Am a Meadow Mermaid. A farm girl on the prairies dreams of adventures in the ocean even though she is far from “under the sea.” It’s a picture book that celebrates imagination and recognizes you don’t have to live seaside to love the idea of mermaids.

Technically, Heba, the main character of A Mermaid Girl by Sana Rafi and Olivia Aserr, isn’t a mermaid. But she feels like one the first summer she gets a new, yellow burkini, and can enjoy the community pool with her friends for the first time. Heba is reminded of all the “mermaid girls” in her family, sparkling in their burkinis in a book that celebrates Muslim traditions and summertime swims.

Rounding out our picture books of mermaids that maybe aren’t mermaids in the breathe-underwater sense is classic picture book Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. A buoyant celebration of self-love and genderfluidity, the story follows young Julián after he notices three women dressed spectacularly on the subway, all on their way to the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. When Julián gets home, daydreaming of the magic he’s seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume. Methinks Julián needs to meet up with Heba and the kid from I Am a Meadow Mermaid!

CHAPTER BOOKS & MIDDLE GRADE

A nonfiction survey at everything from the Hans Christian Andersen tale, the Disney animated feature, sirens, the mami wata of Africa and the ningyo of Japan, The Very Short, Entirely True History of Mermaids by Sarah Laskow and illustrated by Reimena Yee will answer all your boiling mermaid questions.

Mermaids meet surf culture in the tubular graphic novel Sea Sirens by Amy Chu and Janet K. Lee, as Trot, a spunky Vietnamese American surfer girl and her cantankerous talking cat, Cap’n Bill, wipe out and get sucked down into a magical underwater kingdom. Only one problem: a totally gnarly battle is being waged between the beautiful Sea Siren mermaids and the Serpent King (not this guy) and his slithery minions. I’m already stoked!

Like The Little Mermaid but with more palace politics, Once Upon a Tide: A Mermaid’s Tale by Stephanie Kate Strohm features aquatic diplomacy at its finest. The book features Princess Lana, the youngest ambassador for the underwater kingdom. She’s sent to the Royal Festival, trading her mermaid tail for a clumsy pair of legs―and having to spend a week with her mother, who chose life on land over the sea – where intrigue ensues.

In nine books, the Emily Windsnap series, written by Liz Kessler, feature the adventures of everyone’s favorite half-mermaid. (Does that mean she’s only a quarter-fish?) Twelve-year-old boat dweller Emily feels an uncanny connection to the sea. A connection that is explained once she takes swimming lessons and learns of her mermaid side. Soon, she’s making mermaid BFFs, battling sea monsters, and uncovering the many secrets of King Neptune.

For younger chapter book readers, there’s the Purrmaids series by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and Vivien Wu. You wouldn’t think cats and fish would mix – cats generally hate water and like eating fish – but mermaid kittens Angel, Coral, and Shelly are best friends who don’t fit your preconceived notions of fish hybrids. They love swimming around their home of Kittentail Cove and getting creative at sea school, and there are 14 books in their adventures to read, chronicling everything from sleepovers to holiday fun at Fish-mas.

While there are whole series with mermaid content, there are also a few mermaid episodes in other popular series. For example, The Princess in Black and the Mermaid Princess by Shannon and Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham, in which the Princess in Black and her friends are cruising in the royal boat when a real, live mermaid princess (Princess Posy) crashes the party. Princess Posy is seeking help protecting her sea goats from being eaten by a kraken, but the princesses aren’t great at fighting underwater, so it may be up to Princess Posy to save the day … and the goats.

The fourth book in Fairy Mom and Me: Fairy Mermaid Magic by Sophie Kinsella sees Ella, who has always dreamed of becoming a fairy like her mom someday, wish for a spell to turn into a mermaid, too! Mom and daughter swim with the mermaids soon enough in this light adventure.

The mermaids in Pacey Packer, Unicorn Tracker: Mermaids vs Unicorns by J. C. Phillipps are not so magical. In fact, they’re kind of mean! But unfortunately Pacey and her grumpy unicorn pal Slasher will have to enter the underwater world of the malicious mermaids in this graphic novel to retrieve a lost Alpha Unicorn horn and try their best not to get into any scrapes!

And in the third installment of Natasha Deen and Lissy Marlin‘s Spooky Sleuths: Don’t Go Near the Water, Asim and Rokshar go on a nautical field trip to the Salish Sea. There they discover the fairmaids, mermaids from Guyanese folklore, may be alive and well under the water.

YOUNG ADULT

We just recommended Natasha Bowen‘s Skin of the Sea in an earlier Tundra Telegram, but if you’re talking about mermaids, you can’t ignore this incredible YA adventure featuring Simi, a Mami Wata who collects the souls of those who die at sea and blesses their journeys back home. When Simi defies her calling and saves a human boy thrown overboard, things get hairy. (If there’s one thing I’ve learned about mermaids from books and movies, it’s that they don’t like being told what to do.) And in the sequel Soul of the Deep, Simi realizes the true cost of her actions, as demons begin to reappear in the water and threaten the world’s end.

Not to be confused with the Briony May Smith picture book, the YA novel Mermaid Moon by Susann Cokal follows Sanna, a half-mermaid who leaves the sea in search of her surface-breathing mother who has been cursed to forget all about her.

And Maggie Tokuda-Hall, who has been fighting book bans across North America of late, wrote a rollicking YA adventure entitled The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea full of pirates, colonialism, and – yes – those mythical mermaids … or at least their blood. (It’s a long story.) This fall, look for the follow-up, The Siren, the Song, and the Spy, in which the Pirate Supreme and their resistance fighters continue their battle against the empire – an empire that expands through profits made from the hunting of mermaids for their blood. (Well, maybe it wasn’t that long a story.)

Tundra Book Group