The Mermaid's Dolphin

By Coral Ripley

Can Emily, Grace, and Layla use their new mermaid talents to save a special cove? The first book in an exciting, illustrated chapter book series that promotes environmentalism for kids.

When Emily, Grace, and Layla rescue a dolphin from a fishing net, they get swept away on a magical mermaid adventure! The girls are chosen to become guardians of the underwater world. The oceans desperately need their help, and not just because of pollution.

A storm is brewing and an evil mermaid named Effluvia is stirring up trouble. Can the Sea Keepers stop her by finding the magic pearl and saving the beautiful cove for all the creatures who live there?

Pick up The Mermaid's Dolphin if you are looking for:

• The perfect book for 2nd to 5th grade students
• A story with strong female protagonists that explores bravery and friendship
• A fun series that promotes environmentalism and other aspects of marine biology

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: May 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781728236896

Coral Ripley

Coral Ripley is the pseudonym for an author of numerous bestselling children’s books. She lives in London, England.

Book preview

Front Cover

The Sea Keepers series

The Mermaid’s Dolphin

The Sea Unicorn

Coral Reef Rescue

Sea Turtle School

Penguin Island

Title Page

Thank you for downloading this Sourcebooks eBook!

You are just one click away from…

• Being the first to hear about author happenings

• VIP deals and steals

• Exclusive giveaways

• Free bonus content

• Early access to interactive activities

• Sneak peeks at our newest titles

Happy reading!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Books. Change. Lives.

Copyright © 2021 by Orchard Books

Cover and internal design © 2021 by Orchard Books

First U.S. edition published in 2021 by Sourcebooks Young Readers.

Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Published by Sourcebooks Young Readers, an imprint of Sourcebooks Kids

P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

[phone]

sourcebookskids.com

Originally published in 2020 in Great Britain by Orchard Books, an imprint of Hachette Children’s Group, part of the Watts Publishing Group Limited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ripley, Coral, author.

Title: The mermaid’s dolphin / Coral Ripley.

Description: Naperville, Illinois : Sourcebooks Young Readers, [2021] | Series: Sea keepers ; 1 | Originally published in 2020 in Great Britain by Orchard Books, an imprint of Hachette Children’s Group, part of the Watts Publishing Group Limited. | Audience: Ages 7. | Audience: Grades 2-3. | Summary: Chosen by water magic to become Sea Keepers, new friends Emily, Grace, and Layla are charged with finding magical Golden Pearls before the Siren Effluvia can, and protecting all sea creatures--including merfolk. Includes tips for being a real-life sea keeper.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020044954 (print) | LCCN 2020044955 (ebook)

Subjects: CYAC: Mermaids--Fiction. | Friendship--Fiction. | Water pollution--Fiction. | Marine animals--Fiction. | Animal welfare--Fiction. | Moving, Household--Fiction.

Classification: LCC PZ7.1.R5753 Mer 2021 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.R5753 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020044954

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020044955

Contents

Front Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

How to Be a Real-Life Sea Keeper

Excerpt from The Sea Unicorn

Chapter One

About the Author

Back Cover

Special thanks to Sarah Hawkins.

For my brilliant daughter, Ella Leonard.

Chapter One

The mermaid on the sign had a glittering golden tail, long red hair, and a friendly smile. She looked so happy that Emily couldn’t help smiling back as she looked up at her.

The Mermaid Café, Mom read aloud as she came to stand next to Emily, her arms full of boxes. I can’t believe it’s really happening!

Emily grinned. Her mom had wanted to have her own café for as long as Emily could remember. And when Dad had lost his job a few months ago, the family had decided to move to the seaside and make her dream come true.

It’s beautiful, Emily said to Mom. And it was. All the shops on the old cobblestone road were painted pretty pastel colors—minty green, lemon yellow, and sugary pink—but Emily thought the café was the prettiest of all, a pale blue that matched the bit of sea she could see twinkling down at the bottom of the hill. It was so different from the big city they’d lived in before.

Coming through! Dad yelled as he staggered over with more boxes. He stopped to plant kisses on both Emily’s and Mom’s cheeks and then went indoors, whistling. Emily hadn’t seen him so cheerful in a long time. She was pleased her parents were happy—but she couldn’t help feeling sad at the same time. She’d left her school, her friends, and everything she knew, back at