The Tail of Emily Windsnap

-Fun And Eductional -Great Childrens Book -Girls - Ages 6-12 About the Author Liz Kessler lives on a canal boat in rural Cheshire, England, and has worked as a teacher, journalist, and editorial consultant. She says she first knew she wanted to become a writer at the age of nine, when she had a poem published in a local newspaper. THE TAIL OF EMILY WINDSNAP, her first children’s book, grew out of a poem she wrote about a mermaid. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. As I swam around the rocks at the end of the bay, the water became clearer and softer. It was like switching from grainy black-and-white film into color. The fat gray fish were replaced by stripy yellow-and-blue ones with floppy silver tails, long thin green ones with spiky antennae and angry mouths, orange ones with spotted black fins—-all darting purposefully around me. Every now and then, I swam across a shallow sandy stretch. Wispy little sticklike creatures as thin as paper wriggled along beneath me, almost see-through against the sand. Then the water would suddenly get colder and deeper as I went over a rocky part. I swished myself across these carefully. They were covered in prickly black sea urchins, and I wouldnt be thrilled to get one of those stuck on my tail.Soon the water got warmer again as I came to another shallow part. I was getting tired. I came up for fresh air and realized I was miles from home; farther away than Id ever been on my own. I tried to flick