Customer Reviews

The Mermaids' Ball (Glitter Tattoos)

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

 

 

The Mermaid's Ball is a somewhat likeable storybook that both of my children enjoyed hearing a few times. It tells the readers about the preparations the mermaids make for the ball that evening, all of which pertain to their appearance. The illustrations are average, so don't add much to the story, and the plot is nonexistent. It won't be a classic in our home, but the tattoos have been pretty fun.

The simple text and ideas launch the toddler girl's imagination. My 2.5 year old asks for it most everynight.

Well this one is pretty dull. The entire story consists of getting ready to go to a ball where the mer-maids - no mer-boys-- dance with the queen. And when I say getting ready I mean they wake up, have breakfast, shop, do their hair, lounge (no I'm not kidding), get dressed, ride a conch coach to the castle, dance and get hungry.

As a book for children to read, I would say that it is probably geared for the first or second grade level. There are no more than four lines of text on any given page (some pages have only one line or none), but the print is smaller than that you normally find in early readers. The more difficult words include: oyster, stretch, yawn, seaweed, special, shipwreck, sparkling, lounge, decorate, conch, elegant, delicacies, bubbleworks, and orchestra. Find following some sample paragraphs drawn from several places in the book.

All the little mermaids stretch and yawn. It's time

to swim out of their oyster beds. It's time to get ready

for the Mermaids' Ball!

After their shopping trip, the mermaids lounge in

the lagoon, and take a relaxing bath in the warm water.

The waterfall is perfect for washing their long, long hair.

But they don't need to blow-dry it for an undersea ball!

Two Stars. [D+] Okay Read-aloud. Color runs from edge to edge in the drawings. There is not much here of note storywise, so I'd give it a try ONLY if you have a child that is especially interested in mermaids.

We thought the Strawberry "Berry Fairytales" were better. Berry Fairy Tales: Cinderella (Strawberry Shortcake)

That's what my child says every night about this book. She loves it. Just take the time to fill in your own observations and the story comes alive. At the end for example, they all have a little goodie bag - I tell my child that one has crayons in it, one has playdoh, and the other has - fill in the blank - a bracelet or anything your child likes. This is one of her favorite books - who wants a plot in a night time book that's supposed to put your child at rest? For that purpose, this is light, easy, pretty, colorful and easy for them to follow. And that's without the tatoo's :)