Customer Reviews

Little Mermaid (Picture Puffin Books (Prebound))

5 star:		(1)
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Many authors and illustrators have tried to tell this story before, but this particular book is a treasure for any 6 to 9 year old to have in her collection of classic fairy tales. Each page of artwork should be a painting - they are so stunning and magical. This version follows the Hans Christian Andersen version of the famous tale, not the Disney movie. Therefore, the Little Mermaid goes up to heaven in the end, which may bother some preschoolers. The reading level is at about the 2nd grade level. A great book to share at story-time with an early reader, as the pictures will motivate them to try and read it.

Since most people know the story, I won't elaborate on it. I bought this book for the illustrations and was not disappointed: they're gorgeous and dreamy watercolors that wonderfully represent the emotions of the sweet mermaid and her world, both underwater and above. My only protest is that there were not quite as many as I thought there would be and that the text of the story, while good, was lacking certain details. While the story is a little much for certain age groups, the illustrations are NOT inappropriate, and some of the remarks made by another person really irritated me. So what if one of the illustrations shows the mermaid's nipples? She's a little girl, for heaven's sake! She doesn't have breasts, and there's nothing lewd about the picture; all it shows is a sweet mermaid staring at the surface in childish innocence. If you don't like nudity, you shouldn't be looking at mermaid art. Having said this, I highly recommend this book to all fans of fairytales and/or mermaid art. If you're looking for a more detailed version of "The Little Mermaid", however, I'd recommend Charles Santore's version over this (it has beautiful art too!)