Product Description

Sunny the meerkat lives with his enormous family in the Kalahari desert. They are all very close . . . so close, in fact, 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. And who's that shadowy figure who seems to be following him around?

A brilliant picture book from the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3302 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

About the Author

Emily Gravett is a graduate of Brighton University and the winner of the 2004 Macmillan Prize for Illustration. A traveller in her youth, Emily has now settled in Brighton with her partner, their young daughter – and two pet rats. Her first picture book, the inimitable WOLVES (978-1-4050-5362-4), won the Kate Greenaway Medal 2005 and the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Bronze Award. Emily's fifth picture book for Macmillan, LITTLE MOUSE'S BIG BOOK OF FEARS (978-1-4050-8948-7), will also be published in August 2007.

Customer Reviews

Meerkat Magic
This is a wonderful book. The tender story of Sunny the Meerkat's journey is coupled with the fantastic detail of Emily Gravett's art work. I teach Year 5 (age 9 to 10) and my class love it. The ants and the nibbled pages, the stamps on the postcards and the mongoose facts, the Jackal and the detailing on the cover makes it irresistible. I can't wait to read more from this author.

A brilliant picture book package bursting with interest and meerkats.
This book has a fun cover with its "parcel" look, and this postal theme is the underlying concept of the story. Sunny is a meerkat in large group whose motto is Stay safe, Stay together. But it's hot and dry in the Kalahari desert and the familiy is so close-knit that he longs for a bit of space so he sets off with his suitcase to visit relatives. At each place he sends a postcard home - there's a flap postcard on every double page spread. But after a week away, each night in a different place, he's ready to go back home and appreciate the finer things in a meerkat's life: the hot dry desert and the close-knit famil he was so keen to get away from originally.
This is a lovely story, with its emphasis on the value of family/community, and it is brilliantly put-together. The charcoal and sandy watercolour illustrations are lovely and infused with light humour throughout. My children like anything that's a bit different and, as well as the postcards, they love the many additional touches, like newspaper clippings, the stamps on the postcards, and so on. Even before the story begins we have to look at the pictures in a photo album and newspaper clipping that precedes that title page, and then at the end we also pore over the final photo album page, cross-referencing the photos of relatives .
This is a wonderful book, my three (3,5,&7) all love it. It's suitable from about age 2, and one you'll find coming out at bedtime again and again right through to age 7 or 8. Get a copy posted to you right away.

A Lovely Book which works well for slightly older readers too
My oldest child (8) still occasionally likes to look at picture books, but there is little to bridge the gap between young childrens picture books and graphic novels. Then I found this. I bought it for her when we were going on an aeroplane and needed to keep her amused and she had a lovely time.

The story is that young Meerkat is tired of his noisy, busy family and their house, so he decides to spread his wings and do a bit of travelling around. As he moves from place to place he sends his family postcards, before realising that home, with the people who love him, is always going to be the best. Someone has commented in a review that this book is unoriginal. I would say that it is a traditional story, and there's nothing wrong with that. The postcard element has been done by the Ahlbergs with The Jolly Postman, and the travel story is probably not new either, but that doesn't mean that it's rubbish. On the contrary, it is a great spin on a tale that children will find comforting because they know the pattern to come.

It's nicely written with very high production qualities. The story is fun and the meerkats are naturally appealing to children, and indeed most adults truth be told. The pictures are detailed enough to leave room for lots of discussion with the child around the main story. The postcards Meerkat sends detach from the book and are really lovely and have all the authentic details like stamps, postmarks etc.

The story is quite long for a picture book, which is why my daughter enjoyed it, and all the extra twiddles means it lasts quite a while in holding their interest and provoking play. I made sure that along with the book I provided a book of blank postcards and some pens so that my daughter could make cards of her own travels. A really good holiday book.

Having mentioned that I gave it to my eight year old, the story is also suitable for younger children, although you naturally have to watch that the postcards stay put.