The Little Mermaid (Hardcover)

~ Hans Christian Andersen (Author), Lisbeth Zwerger (Illustrator) "Far away out at sea, the water is as blue as the petals of the most beautiful cornflower and as clear as the purest glass,..." (more)
Key Phrases: little mermaid

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As she has with previous interpretations of classics, Zwerger (Alice in Wonderland) works from Bell's faithful translation of Andersen's text, with no happily ever after. Here the mermaid must watch her beloved prince marry another, knowing that she herself will die the following day. Zwerger's exquisite watercolors bring to life the mermaid's world. At a window in the castle of her father, the sea king, the mermaid gazes out into the blue-green distance, wondering what life above must be like; while fish dart in and out, she pets one absently. Watery meadows of jade and turquoise suggest empty silence and foreshadow the mermaid's sacrifice to the sea witch—in exchange for a human form, the heroine must trade her voice, "a lovelier voice than anyone on earth or in the sea." Zwerger represents the mermaid's shunning of her undersea home with a depiction of her overgrown garden, once the heroine's pride and joy. Other memorable scenes, framed in a white border, depict the mermaid towing the prince to shore after a shipwreck and, later, as dawn breaks on the day she is to turn to sea foam, the mermaid looks resolute, clothed in a glorious golden gown that resembles fish scales. Zwerger's parting scene, an aerial view of the prince's ship sailing away, amplifies the bittersweet yet redemptive conclusion, in which the little mermaid, now a "child of the air," may earn an immortal soul. The illustrations may well provide endless hours of reverie. Ages 4-8.
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From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6–Bell provides a smooth and accurate translation of Andersen's moralistic tale of a little mermaid who saves a prince from drowning, then gives up her own life to ensure his happiness. The cover illustration showing the little mermaid pulling the prince to shore sets the tone for the story to come. Soft blues and greens predominate in Zwerger's impressionist watercolors, but she has added some eye-catching spots of color to the people, buildings, and boats. There is also color in the many small illustrations of fish and other sea creatures that appear throughout, adding a bit of brightness to the narrative's heavy-handed emphasis on suffering and death, and breaking the monotony of pages packed with text. Sentences printed in colored type serve as captions for the larger paintings. This version will be appreciated by an older, more sophisticated audience than Rachel Isadora's condensed retelling (Putnam, 1998) with its warmly colored, more realistic scenes.–Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Minedition (September 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0698400011
• ISBN-13: 978-0698400016
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #56,285 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER TREASURE FROM LISBETH ZWERGER, October 18, 2004

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Bias admitted up front: I'm a huge fan of Lisbeth Zwerger. It would be nigh on to impossible to select my favorite from the many children's books she has illustrated. I think of the irreplaceable "Wizard of Oz" with a perky little Dorothy in her apron and red hat or the wonderful "Hansel and Gretel" with the rosy cheeked girl pushing the dreadful witch into an oven. One could go on and on. Each time I come across another book illustrated by Zwerger I think it's even better than what has come before.

This Vienna born artist has a vision, I think, and she brings this to each of her works. She has been quoted as saying that her favorite authors are the Grimm Brothers, Charles Dickens, and Hans Christian Andersen. Yet, when she paints, she does not see these stories as they've been presented in the past but with a completely fresh approach. That's certainly true with her paintings for "The Little Mermaid."

Begin with the end papers, shiny reflections of water's depths and then our first view of the sea king's castle with its coral walls and shell roof - dwarfed by the immensity of the sea. Each full page painting is framed in white, adding to the pristine quality of the images. Sea shells and fish decorate margins. Zwerger brings both wit and understanding to her work; it's unlike any other and totally captivating.

Surely, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the translation from the Danish by Anthea Bell. Here is no Disney mermaid, but the fully realized story as written by Andersen, full of wonder and hope.

Yes, "The Little Mermaid" would make a wonderful gift, but you'd best buy two - one to keep and enjoy.

- Gail Cooke

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful story and loved the artwork, July 19, 2005

By	N. Matthews (London, England UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Growing up, Disney's version of this story was probably my favorite movie. Id really never known that there was a book until I came across it in the library(which is silly, because this is something of a classic.)

Reading this book rather enraged me. The ending is quite different from the Disney ending and I dont understand why they felt the need to change it. This is a lovely tale of unrequited love as well as failure and disapointment. Every story need not have a happy ending and unfortunately most children's tales do. Maybe Im a pessimist, but it seems that stories where everything works out in the end might be sending children the message of a perfect world where disapointment is out of the norm.

I just wish there were more stories of this sort to give kids a more realistic view of their future, because they have to learn sooner or later.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even Mermaids Die of a Broken Heart, May 11, 2006

By	M. R. Estante "http://aralarcalifornia.blogsp... (North America) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is the true story of The Little Mermaid. Unlike the Disney version where she gets the prince, the mermaid dies of a broken heart when the Prince whose life she saved marries another. The tragedy of the ending is what made the original version so touching. A beautiful mermaid gives up her voice, her family, her life in the sea in order to be with the one she loves. The promise is the love and the soul of sacrifice. It was a love dependant on another, being the Prince, and the risks she took were considerable. When the Prince falls for the woman he thought rescued him at sea it is the end of the Little Mermaid's quest for eternity. But since she doesn't kill him and his new bride she gets what she wanted all along ... a soul ... and no longer needs the Prince to live as a spiritual being in eternity. Not only is the little mermaid free from the curse of the Sea Witch but she earns her soul on her own volition. The Prince was merely a conduit to her wish. It is more poignant this way since the little mermaid no longer needs to earn love from anyone except herself.

[...]

"Among the daughters of the air," answered one of them. "A mermaid has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hangs her eternal destiny. But the daughters of the air, although they do not possess an immortal soul, can, by their good deeds, procure one for themselves. We fly to warm countries, and cool the sultry air that destroys mankind with the pestilence. We carry the perfume of the flowers to spread health and restoration. After we have striven for three hundred years to all the good in our power, we receive an immortal soul and take part in the happiness of mankind. You, poor little mermaid, have tried with your whole heart to do as we are doing; you have suffered and endured and raised yourself to the spirit-world by your good deeds; and now, by striving for three hundred years in the same way, you may obtain an immortal soul."

The little mermaid lifted her glorified eyes towards the sun, and felt them, for the first time, filling with tears. On the ship, in which she had left the prince, there were life and noise; she saw him and his beautiful bride searching for her; sorrowfully they gazed at the pearly foam, as if they knew she had thrown herself into the waves. Unseen she kissed the forehead of her bride, and fanned the prince, and then mounted with the other children of the air to a rosy cloud that floated through the aether.

"After three hundred years, thus shall we float into the kingdom of heaven," said she. "And we may even get there sooner," whispered one of her companions. "Unseen we can enter the houses of men, where there are children, and for every day on which we find a good child, who is the joy of his parents and deserves their love, our time of probation is shortened. The child does not know, when we fly through the room, that we smile with joy at his good conduct, for we can count one year less of our three hundred years. But when we see a naughty or a wicked child, we shed tears of sorrow, and for every tear a day is added to our time of trial!"