Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Macmillan Children's Books (2006), Hardcover, 32 pages
Description
Through a series of flip-up postcards addressed to his family, Sunny Meerkat documents his travels as he searches for the perfect place for him to live.
User reviews
LibraryThing member chelsiking
This is an amazing book! Emily Gravett makes Meerkat's come to life with all of the adventures they go through in this amazing story! Also, having the postcards that were written back to the family add even more enjoyment & visual excitement.
LibraryThing member johnlobe
Meerkat Mail is a beautifully constructed book with many clever ideas layered into the story. Gravett starts with a charming character, a meerkat named Sunny. She then builds captivating illustrations and uses postcards sent home to hook the reader into Sunny's character arc.
LibraryThing member hvachetta
Sunny the Meerkat doesn't like his home in the Kalahari Desert, until he tries to find somewhere else to live. This is a sweet book for children that teaches them the ways in which different animals are equipped to survive in different habitats. It also has a touching message about sticking with
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family. Show Less
LibraryThing member Meerkat4
I don't know what to make of this book! it is the journey of two "high functioning" Meerkats. They leave home and send post cards home! the actual post cards are in the book in a pop-up format. Very fun book. Teaches the importance of friendship, and fulfillment one can get from said friendships. I
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like it. I don't think it's great enough to buy, but I would recommend reading it at the library. Show Less
LibraryThing member akrause
Sunny is a meerkat who lives in the very hot Kalahari Desert with his too close family. He sets off on a journey visiting other relatives trying to find a place perfect for him, sending post cards back to his family along the way. The farther he gets from home, the more he realizes how much he
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misses it. Sunny heads back to his family with a true understanding of the phrase "there's no place like home." Emily Gravett does an amazing job of not only telling the story through words but through her intricate illustrations. On nearly every page, she also includes the post cards that Sunny sent home to his family which really brings readers into the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Meerkat mobs tends to stick together - playing together, eating together, even sleeping together - and Sunny's family, living in the hot, dry Kalahari Desert, is no exception. Deciding one day that they are a little too close, and that he would like to live somewhere else, Sunny sets off to find
This sweet tale of discovery, of journeying to find something, and then returning home to it at last, was one of the August selections, over in The Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is "traveling." As with the other Emily Gravett books I have read, I found the artwork here charming - her meerkats are adorable, and her lurking jackal suitably sinister - and I also appreciated the innovative design, in which Sunny's postcards are attached to the page, making a "lift-the-flap" experience for readers. I liked the way in which Sunny's evolving feelings about home, and about where he is when writing each postcard, is reflected in the address he uses to mail them. All in all, an engaging little tale, one ideally suited for young children who dream of exploring the wide world, but still need the reassurance that home will always be there.
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the perfect place, assuring his family that he will stay with relatives along the way. And so begins a journey that will take him to a variety of homes - some too small, others too exposed - and a plethora of places - some too rainy, some too itchy (life in a termite hole can be a challenge!) - none of which are just right. Chronicling his travels through postcards home, Sunny wanders far and wide, becoming increasingly dissatisfied, until eventually he finds his way to a place where he truly belongs...This sweet tale of discovery, of journeying to find something, and then returning home to it at last, was one of the August selections, over in The Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is "traveling." As with the other Emily Gravett books I have read, I found the artwork here charming - her meerkats are adorable, and her lurking jackal suitably sinister - and I also appreciated the innovative design, in which Sunny's postcards are attached to the page, making a "lift-the-flap" experience for readers. I liked the way in which Sunny's evolving feelings about home, and about where he is when writing each postcard, is reflected in the address he uses to mail them. All in all, an engaging little tale, one ideally suited for young children who dream of exploring the wide world, but still need the reassurance that home will always be there.
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LibraryThing member Imandayeh
Sunny the meerkat feels his family is TOO close. He decides it is time for him to explore different living options. Every page is a new place he is loving with a distant relative. The postcard involves his message to the family and in fine print the Latin name for the type of mongoose and a brief
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description. Sunny needed to experience all these other places that just weren't right to realize home is where he belongs. Gravett uses realia In this book like other books she has illustrated. I would recommend this book to grades 2-4. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
Gimmick far more interesting than story. Theme is obvious, and one I vehemently deny should be shared as gospel with children. We never got to know the relatives, not even most of their names. Two stars for the art, zero for everything else.
Oh, and poor design, too. I got a used copy, so I don't
Oh, and poor design, too. I got a used copy, so I don't
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know how the postcards are supposed to be retained. But the dustjacket hides much of the cute endpapers, and is *not* reprinted on the cloth binding (as is usually done with picturebooks, because children do tend to destroy dustjackets). So, when the dj is secured, the art is obscured - too bad! Show Less
Subjects
Awards
USBBY Outstanding International Book (Grades K-2 — 2008)
Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration (Nominee — 2007)
Virginia Readers' Choice (Nominee — Primary — 2010)
Hampshire Book Awards (Shortlist — 2008)
Language
Physical description
32 p.; 10.79 inches
ISBN
1405052155 / 9781405052153
Local notes
Sunny the meerkat lives with his enormous family in the Kalahari desert. They are all very close, so close that one day Sunny decides he's had enough and packs his bags. He's off to visit his mongoose cousins. But from the watery world of the Marsh Mongoose to the nocturnal lifestyle of the Malagasy Mongoose, Sunny just doesn't fit in.
Fun postcards attached to many of the pages.
Fun postcards attached to many of the pages.