The Little Mermaid

by Susan Blackaby (Adaptation), Hans Christian Andersen, Charlene Delage (Illustrator)

A little sea princess, longing to be human, trades her mermaid's tail for legs, hoping to win the love of a prince and earn an immortal soul for herself.

Genres: Childrens

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Nicole Sampson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was great until the morbid and strange ending. Even my kids were creeped out.

[Meltha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an unusual book. It's written at maybe a second grade or so level, so it's edited a lot from the original version, but it does keep most of Andersen's plot points: the soul issue, the the possible murder of the prince, the mermaid's death, the daughters of the air, etc. The child affecting the outcome was left out, and the mermaid's tongue being cut out is skipped over, but otherwise, this actually is a version of the story aimed at having little kids be able to read it. The illustrations aren't particularly engaging, though they work well enough (and the illustrator does make the witch a mermaid as well, something that isn't usually the case in illustrated versions, though it makes perfect sense that she would be). The unknown convent girl is also portrayed as basically being a liar in this, which is a bit unfair. It's a sad story, of course, but this version actually should be mostly understandable for a kid.

[R.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a different ending from the Disney version.

[Yasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I grow up, and if I have children, there is no doubt that I will read this story to them.

-/4/21