Customer Reviews

The Girl, the Fish, and the Crown: A Spanish Folktale

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Marilee Heyer does an excellent job of retelling this Spanish folktale of a selfish and indulgent girl's journey into the sea. As a punishment for not showing mercy, the girl becomes a fish. In her wanderings, she eventually is led to a queen who, like her, is trapped in the sea. The girl is given power to transform herself into the form of other animals and is given the quest of reclaiming the queen's crown which was stolen by a giant. After taking on the forms of various animals and running into a prince in the shape of a deer, the girl finds the giant, deals honestly with him, achieves the tasks that he sets before her, and returns to the queen with crown in fin. Of course, the enchantment ends and all of the queen, her court, and the girl are returned to their human form. The prince, the son of the queen, recognizes the eyes of the girl and all live happily ever after. While the story is excellent, Heyer's colorful and exquisite illustrations add a great deal to the overall presentation. Older children will greatly enjoy this wonderful adventure with its solid, good morals.

I ran across this book while searching online for picture books based on fairy tales and bought it (along with quite a few others) just because it was one I'd never heard of or read before. I was disappointed with some of the ones I'd purchased but when this book came, I was pleasantly surprised to see the gorgeous cover. The pictures inside were just as beautifully illustrated and the story itself was equally riveting and wonderful. It wasn't just a story I hadn't read before but like some of the best fairy tales out there, it was one that was exciting, adventurous, and it had a moral lesson to teach.

*spoilers*
I always like it when the heroine is not some poor, beleaguered young girl (or boy for that matter) who overcomes great adversity to earn a happy ending when she's already earned it from page one as far as I'm concerned. The heroine was a willful, spoiled girl who is actually smarter and braver than she appears--she quickly grows and changes, learns compassion, and rises to the occasion.

This book is definitely a keeper for my bookshelf. I only wish the author had a lot more books like this one published.

This is not only a wonderful folk tale but a beautifully illustrated one. Edge to edge pictures retell this story of a young girl who is cursed and how she sets out to break it. I would highly recommend this book be added to your collection wether it be for the young reader or the old.