She lives in Turin and holds art workshops for children and adults. There are always stories to be told wherever you are.įrancesca Chessa has illustrated over 40 books, including Elliot’s Arctic Surprise and Library Lily. So she was determined to become an author and make some changes to the stereotypes.Īt Books Go Walkabout, we work in many countries and these aims reflect our own, for books and stories to be meaningful to all children. As a child she often wondered why the books that she loved reading were all about pink skinned children and snow covered mountains, it was not like that in the Philippines. The first picture book from Candy Gourlay, whose acclaimed novels for young readers, Tall Story and Shine have been listed for the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian’s Children’s Book Prize and both won the Crystal Prize for Europe.Ĭandy Gourlay is from the Philippines and grew up in Manila. The last page is a beautiful purple colour and Ben and Benji walk home in the sunset along the beach to the little wooden cabin. But they all play together with the turtles, and the fishes.Īt the end of the day as the sun is disappearing, and the illustrations become gradually softer, the dugong says goodbye to Bel and Benji.

But the dugong insists she is a beautiful mermaid.Īfter many attempts to convince the children that she really is a mermaid the dugong swims away with her tail splashing into the warm ocean.īel believes her but Benji is very practical and just can’t make the connection.

When Benji and Bel find a strange creature on a tropical beach they know it is a dugong.

Is it a mermaid candy gourlay