Title: Meerkat Mail
Author/Illustrator: Emily Gravett
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, A$14.95RRP
Publication Date: 01/10/07
Format: Soft cover
ISBN: 9781405090759
For ages: 2-8
Type: Picture Book
About: For those with the curse of wanderlust (and that includes 90 per cent of Aussie kids), this adorable book will hit the spot with a heartfelt stamp in your virtual passport.
When Sunny the Meerkat tires of living in the hot Kalahari desert with an army of extended relatives, he pines for different climes. Leaving a note for mum (which assures her he'll be perfectly safe - meerkats tend to worry inordinately about such things), Sunny heads off across the desert in search of more rellies (if that's at all possible) across the hills and dales.
Sending postcards home every day he's away, Sunny visits Uncle Bob in a rocky outpost. He then calls in on cousins Scratch and Mitch in a termite valley. Next it's cousin Edward on the farm... and so it goes on through a week of intrepid travel, through rain and dark, dank tunnels, until Sunny does a full circle and ends up right where he began...
This is a story about travel, yes, but it's also about one of the most emotionally-rewarding parts of journeying afar... returning home. It's also about the fact that happiness is most often sitting right underneath our noses in a happy little pot.
Full to brimming with Gravett's superlative illustrations and lift-the-flap postcards packing her typical witty punch (both verbally and visually), you must add this to your collection... even if you venture no further than the letter box (which I truly hope is not the case. The travel case, geddit?).
Pack your passport.
This book is available online
