MERMAIDS ON PARADE

In a tribute to Brooklyn’s annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade, a fictional young narrator suits up and marches with an array of Mermaids, Neptunes and other sea denizens along the boardwalk and Surf Avenue, past the judges’ stand then down to the beach for the ceremonial ribbon-cuttings that “open” the ocean for summer frolicking. Clad in a variety of fanciful (and often plainly homemade) costumes, the marchers parade through Greenberg’s delicately detailed, accurately drawn streets, under the elevated subway and past the famed amusement park. A good time is plainly had by all. A historical note and directions for making a paper mermaid tail cap this celebration of a colorful, distinctive local tradition. (Picture book. 6-8)