As a Brooklynite, I am certainly a fan of Melanie Hope Greenberg’s whimsical, ultra-urban tyke tomes. The illustrations in her work — and I am specifically citing “A City Is…” for singular commendation here — are a delightful pastiche of cool funk, hot pavement and the sweat of the summertime brow.
How I wish her stories matched her inkwork.
She has the same problem in her latest effort, “Mermaids on Parade.”
As always, she has perfectly chosen her subject — the annual promenade of costumed Neptunes and sea nymphs along Surf Avenue. And once again, Greenberg’s drawings are a delight.
But, once again, Greenberg’s writing is stilted and unimaginative (“We line up. Shiny costumes sparkle and glitter. Marchers are each given a badge,” reads one passage). Even a potentially dramatic moment — when her tiny narrator wins the award for “Best Little Mermaid” in the parade — falls flatter than a Coney Island whitefish.
