The Mermaid's Purse: poems by Ted Hughes [Library Binding]

Ted Hughes (Author), Flora McDonnell (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2000 | Age Level: 8 and up

In The Mermaid's Purse, Ted Hughes explores the ocean. From starfish and seagulls to mermaids and monsters, 28 poems capture the beauty, drama, and mystery of the sea and the seashore. Here is the ghostly cormorant: "Drowned fishermen come back/As famished cormorants/With bare and freezing webby toes/Instead of boots and pants." The strange and comical flounder: "The flounder sees/Through crooked eyes./Through crooked lips/The flounder cries." And the mermaid herself: "Call her a fish,/Call her a girl./Call her the pearl/Of an oyster fresh/On its pearly dish."

By turns lyrical, whimsical, and robust, The Mermaid's Purse showcases the distinctive voice and appreciation of the natural world that made Ted Hughes among the most respected of late-20th-century poets. Made doubly accessible by Flora McDonnell's distinctive black-and-white art, this sea-themed collection will delight children and be welcomed by educators.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8-As in Moon Whales and Other Moon Poems (1976) and Under the North Star (1981; o.p., both Viking), Hughes's words evoke the elemental power that defines the poems' subjects. Each of the 28 selections explores the nature of a different sea creature. Hughes conjures an encounter with a monster of the deep ("So huge, so near,/So really here,/Your stare goes dry/To see me come/So like a swan,/So slow, so high/You cannot cry-"); the mystery in a shell ("You may wash out the sand/But never the sound/Of the ghost of the sea/That is haunting me"); and the artistry of a whale ("And wild as a hand/Among harp strings/Plunging through all/The seas she sings"). McDonnell's dramatic black-and-white paintings capture each poem's mood. While this is not the author's strongest collection, The Mermaid's Purse is still a rich source of thoughtful images by a master poet.
Kathleen Whalin, Greenwich Country Day School, CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Hughes demonstrated a profound love for the sea and its creatures...Flora McDonnell's black-and-white illustrations add just the right touch..."
-The Orlando Sentinel, April 16, 2000

"Hughes is, quite simply, a writer of such skill that his work makes other poets' creations wilt in comparison...McDonnell's black-and-white art splashes across ths compact pages...Catch this poetic wave."
-The Bulletin, June 2000

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Library Binding: 64 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (April 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375905693
• ISBN-13: 978-0375905698
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,745,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Little Purse of Wonder, May 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mermaid's Purse: poems by Ted Hughes (Hardcover)

Ted Hughes has the ability to make the natural world jump at you, alive, off the page. Nowhere is this more evident than in this wonderful cornucopia of sea poems beautifully illustrated by Flora Mcdonnell.

There is literally the zing of sea salt from the moment you open the book. For a person, like myself, who does not live by the sea, it is a tribute to Hughes' power that I felt a whole new world opening in my eyes . This apparent throughout the book, each poem delving deeper and deeper into the mystery of the ocean.

At no time does the book become sentimental. Hughes' characteristic truth when it comes to nature is apparent throughout the book. He treats his subjects with the respect they deserve and in doing so creates a whoolly entertaining yet realistic portrayal of the sea.

A favorite of mine which illustrates this is a short little poem concerning a mussel, in which Hughes likens it to a torn heart. By turns descriptive and playful, he turns it into a beautiful poem concerning a creature of the sea which would not usually garner such poetic attention.

This, as such, is the strength of the book. It has an unerring ability to make the ordinary into something exraordinay ensuring that a walk by the ocean (for children and adults alike) will never be the same again.