Customer Reviews

Mermaid Tales from Around the World

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I live on an island. Therefore, water plays a large part in my life - its the only way that I can get to the rest of my country. And, an offshoot of that is that I feel very connected with water life - including mermaids. So, when finding this book, call Mermaid Tales from Around the World, I decided to check it out. Superficially, its kinda short - only 10-12 stories, And its printed in a largish print. So that way its easy to read. But, deeper into the book, the illustrations are wonderful - there is one for each story. And each is different. Ok, yeah, you say - of course they have different illustrations for different stories. But its more than that. Each is done in a different style - down to the signature. They are based on the culture that the story comes from. Instead of americanizing the pictures, Howell has reasearched the particular culture of the tale, and has imitated it. The result is fantastic. The stories them selves are wonderful. You have, of course, the Little Mermaid. And then, theres the Native Canadian story, and the Japanese tale. The stories all show the different cultures, and their view of what a mermaid is. And each view differs. To say the least, I enjoyed this book. It gave a view of what a mermaid is to several cultures, plus had spectacular illustrations. Check it out!!!

This work as a whole will enlarge your understanding of water maiden creatures, but don't expect to find any rivetting storytelling.

The value of this book lies in its cultural scope. How intriguing to note that water maidens play a significant role in the folk lore of such diverse cultures! And how interesting to see how these creatures vary from country to country (for they are not all mermaids as the title would suggest). Readers will discover an added bonus in Howell's artwork, which enhances the cultural flavor of each tale to great effect.

However, each tale is written in a sparse, folk tale style--flat characters and settings with little descriptive embellishments. For this reason I would recommend this book mainly to those who love mermaids and other sea creatures, rather than to those who just looking for a good story. But recommend it I do, for it is a fine collection.

My name is Janna, and I'm 12 years old. This book was great! If the illustrations hadn't been so great, I would have given it a 3, though. The illustrations are what makes it so great. The illustrator studied how different cultures paint or draw. Then he'd make the illustrations fit the place where the story came from. Troy Howell is amazing!

This book is wonderful for all ages. It includes stories from all over the world, not just Europe. The illustrations are excpetional, with the artist emulating the style of whatever area of the world the story is from, resulting in a genuine feel. The stories are told well, and the book is large enough to be able to show the pictures to a story-time group if desired. I am an adult, yet I found the stories to be interesting and though not dumbed down, accessible to almost all age groups.

My name is Shell and I am 11 years old and I loved this book, its pictures are astonishing with its beautiful colors. One of my favorites is The Nastasia of the Sea, always testing the boy of his loyalty for her. This also contains a very well known classic, The Little Mermaid, by Hans Chistian Anderson. I have read its stories for hundreds of times always wanting to read it again and again, I'd read one story, then I'd have to finish the whole book! I have rented this book many times hoping to find it in a store to buy, but never found it, now I have purchased it, it like a dream come true! Or at least it's an early Christmas present. This book is very extrodinary and not like any other, it kind of gives you a bit of the culture where it came from, as its stories is set in the same mood as all the stories from the cultures. The pictures are like all the other pictures from the cultures too. Such as the picture of Menona of the Waterfall which is Indian its picture looks as if an Indian artist painted it.The whole book is finely illustrated and well told too. It's a very good book and I sure mermaid fans would love it.

This wonderful book written by Mary Pope Osbourne puts memaids into a different light. Most of us (I think) view mermaids as fantastically beautiful kind and caring creatures. Although most of the mermaids in this book are depicted as being beautiful they can be very scarey as well. My daughter who will soon be eight described this book as, "Neat, but a little scarey." It was very interesting to read the stories from different countries. These mermaids are very different than the one portrayed in the Disney film. It is refreshing to read about mermaids in a cultural interpretation.
If you are a mermaid fan you will enjoy this book.

i'm 15 years old and have always loved mermaids. My favorite movie is Disney's The Little Mermaid, and i am always interested in any books i come across about them. i came across this book in 6th grade. it was my teacher's book, but i stole it for the entire year! i read it over and over again, i was mesmerized by the stories and pictures. most of the stories i havnt even heard before. i was so sad when i had to give it back, but just now, 3 years later, i found it on this website! i ordered it right away and couldn't be happier. i reccomend this book to anyone that has a facsination with mermaids. this book is truly wonderful.

I bought this book as a child from a scholastic book order and I absolutely loved it. I got so mad at my sister when I let her borrow it and she spilled water on it. I love how all the different cultural illustrations were drawn by the same artist. I'm in college now, and it's just a fun and simple read. I don't own any other mermaid books yet but I really love this one.

Although I do love the book it is much shorter than expected. My hubby got it for me for Christmas and with shipping paid about $40. He was expecting it to be thicker, or less like a coffeetable book. The paperback version of this Book is only 1/3in thick, if that. On the back of the book near the bottom it is printed that the cost of the book is only $7.99 in the US. So why is Amazon charging so much for it. Each story is a shortened version of each story to give you inparticular the mermaid details, If you are looking for detailed information you'll get more from wikkipedia for free. For $7.99 the book is very much worth it, but not for the way over inflated price from Amazon.

First let me start off by saying that this is my favorite book from when I was a little girl. Now that I have a 15 month old daughter I thought it would be perfect to pass down something I love so much to her. This book must not be in circulation anymore b/c I couldnt find it on books a million or B&N. I tried contacting the author via her website and I tried various teacher websites to find a brand new copy. Brand new copies on amazon.com sell anywhere from $50-$100 brand new. I was skeptical about buying a used book that was only $1 on amazon b/c there have been times where sellers say that it is in "good" condition and it is very disappointing to find out otherwise when you get your purchase. This book arrived right on schedule and it was in FABULOUS condition. It was really a surpise b/c the seller said that it was in "good" condition with bent pages but the small creases are barely visible. The book was supposed to be library binding but it was an original copy with the original dustjacket. I couldnt be more pleased with the book and the wonderful customer service. I will most definitely be a repeat customer! Thank you!!!!