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The Animal Family
This is the story of how, one by one, a man found himself a family. Almost nowhere in fiction is there a stranger, dearer, or funnier family -- and the life that the members of The Animal Family live together, there in the wilderness beside the sea, is as extraordinary and as enchanting as the family itself.
180 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
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1856 people want to read
About the author
Randall Jarrell
110 books94 followersPoems, published in collections such as
Little Friend, Little Friend
(1945), of American poet and critic Randall Jarrell concern war, loneliness, and art.
He wrote eight books of poetry, five anthologies, a novel, Pictures from an Institution . Maurice Sendak illustrated his four books for children, and he translated Faust: Part I and The Three Sisters , which the studio of actors performed on Broadway; he also translated two other works. He received the National Book Award for poetry in 1960, served as poet laureate at the Library of Congress in 1957 and 1958, and taught for many years at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. He joined as a member of the American institute of arts and letters.
He wrote eight books of poetry, five anthologies, a novel, Pictures from an Institution . Maurice Sendak illustrated his four books for children, and he translated Faust: Part I and The Three Sisters , which the studio of actors performed on Broadway; he also translated two other works. He received the National Book Award for poetry in 1960, served as poet laureate at the Library of Congress in 1957 and 1958, and taught for many years at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. He joined as a member of the American institute of arts and letters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 259 reviews
January 10, 2012
What an exquisite little gem this book is. I have been bemoaning the lack of great mermaid stories far and wide, and though I've tried a great many, none have ever even touched on the surface of the enchantment and mystery that I'd hoped for until the gracious Ceridwen whispered in my ear about The Animal Family. This isn't really strictly a mermaid tale, however, it's really a deceptively simple but layered story of a family that is not born, but made.
Once upon a time, there was a hunter who lived alone in the woods, dreaming of those who have left him behind. In just a few pages, the author shows us the hunter's loneliness and makes us want things for him that perhaps he doesn't even let himself dream of.
But when the logs had burnt to embers and the embers had burnt away to coals, the man would lie in his bed, warm under the bearskin, and listen to the great soft sound the waves made over and over. It seemed to him it was like his mother singing.
Then one evening, as he stands out by the seal rocks on the shore, he hears a song being sung without words.
...as the hunter stared into the moonlight round the rocks, a sleek wet head came up out of the water, stared at him with shining eyes, and then sank back under and was gone. It was nothing he had ever seen before. Its long shining hair and shining skin were the same silvery blue-green, the color of the moonlight on the water.
The hunter and mermaid of course make a life together, and they add to their family with some very unexpected and funny choices. The imagery is evocative and quite beautiful, and the ideas and language were at times so clever that I was chortling as I turned the pages.
This is a story written in the traditional lovely, lyrical prose of old-fashioned fairy tales, and one that readers of classics will very much appreciate. The book was published in 1965 and was declared "a timeless and universal story" as reviewed for the New York Times Book review by none other than P.L. Travers, who also said "Occasionally, very rarely--like the spirit of delight--comes a book that is not so much a book but a kind of visitation. I had not known that I was waiting for The Animal Family, but when it came it was as though I had long been expecting it."
I had no idea I was waiting for this book either, but I'm very glad it finally came.
Once upon a time, there was a hunter who lived alone in the woods, dreaming of those who have left him behind. In just a few pages, the author shows us the hunter's loneliness and makes us want things for him that perhaps he doesn't even let himself dream of.
But when the logs had burnt to embers and the embers had burnt away to coals, the man would lie in his bed, warm under the bearskin, and listen to the great soft sound the waves made over and over. It seemed to him it was like his mother singing.
Then one evening, as he stands out by the seal rocks on the shore, he hears a song being sung without words.
...as the hunter stared into the moonlight round the rocks, a sleek wet head came up out of the water, stared at him with shining eyes, and then sank back under and was gone. It was nothing he had ever seen before. Its long shining hair and shining skin were the same silvery blue-green, the color of the moonlight on the water.
The hunter and mermaid of course make a life together, and they add to their family with some very unexpected and funny choices. The imagery is evocative and quite beautiful, and the ideas and language were at times so clever that I was chortling as I turned the pages.
This is a story written in the traditional lovely, lyrical prose of old-fashioned fairy tales, and one that readers of classics will very much appreciate. The book was published in 1965 and was declared "a timeless and universal story" as reviewed for the New York Times Book review by none other than P.L. Travers, who also said "Occasionally, very rarely--like the spirit of delight--comes a book that is not so much a book but a kind of visitation. I had not known that I was waiting for The Animal Family, but when it came it was as though I had long been expecting it."
I had no idea I was waiting for this book either, but I'm very glad it finally came.
August 11, 2012
20120811
Fantastic book. I read it to E and L. At one point, I was (ahem) overcome by the story, and got a bit choked up. This made for a very confusing moment for E and L. She followed suit, but then to deal with the trauma of seeing his father cry at a children's story, E began to laugh. This became a preferable option to L as well. As long as I had trouble getting it together, they both laughed at me. Me crying, my children laughing at me -- standard parental operating procedure.
Fantastic book. I read it to E and L. At one point, I was (ahem) overcome by the story, and got a bit choked up. This made for a very confusing moment for E and L. She followed suit, but then to deal with the trauma of seeing his father cry at a children's story, E began to laugh. This became a preferable option to L as well. As long as I had trouble getting it together, they both laughed at me. Me crying, my children laughing at me -- standard parental operating procedure.
July 20, 2012
this right here is a perfect book. right here. perfect book.
June 28, 2015
A hunter lives alone by the shore. Once he had parents, but they died, probably when he was quite young. Perhaps he has never had any other human contact, we aren't told; he seems to be familiar with some norms like "men don't wear necklaces" but he doesn't know what velvet is... this question isn't central, I just wonder given his loneliness why there's no question of looking for other people. Maybe he would have left eventually had he not met a mermaid.
November 28, 2025
Bonito cuento sobre familias atípicas compuestas por sirenas, cazadores, linces y osos.
August 20, 2020
Ok, this is the second time I've read this. I believe child me would have liked it. Now, I don't know what to think... it's like an elusive dream... it seems like just a series of anecdotes about how each new member of the family arrives and becomes integrated, but surely there's a deeper resonance that makes it worthy of a Newbery Honor.
Don't be put off by the page count. It's a small book, with huge margins, and can be read by an adult in one sitting.
I'd love to know what a family who reads it aloud together thinks about it.
3rd read, August 2020, we're actually discussing in the Children's Books group in the Newbery club.
It's just as poetic and mysterious and lovely as I remember from the other times I've read it.
I like the book design. Plenty of pages, not too many illustrations, but not many words on each page. It slows down the readers, makes them think about the words and ideas.
I love the subtle characterizations. Somehow we figure out the hunter's nature while being told very little about him, or even spending much time with him. He had a happy childhood, his parents are dead, he's lonely, he's patient, he's not self-centered...
I love the writing style, too. The mermaid "had learned the hunter's words, but she said them to the sea's tune."
I think there's a lot of metaphor and deep themes going on here.
I mean, an easy idea is that even the hunter and mermaid are 'animals.' After all, how else can we readers reconcile our unease with him killing for all those furs he uses to outfit his bed and floor, and with her catching and eating raw fish as she swims, just as another fish would, with our desire to empathize with and like or admire them?
But there's more depth, isn't there?
For example, why, at the end, do they tell ?
And why exactly does the mermaid choose to be basically imprisoned in the cottage? She 'pushes herself along' or gets carried to go anywhere. But the hunter holds her by no word or action or behavior. She says, late in the book, that she finds the consistency of life under the sea boring, but I think the author had something more in mind.
And what did the Newbery committee find to honor? *I* think the book worthy of note for it's poetry and thoughtfulness, but it's atypical of what is usually chosen for Newbery recognition, at least until this date.
Don't be put off by the page count. It's a small book, with huge margins, and can be read by an adult in one sitting.
I'd love to know what a family who reads it aloud together thinks about it.
3rd read, August 2020, we're actually discussing in the Children's Books group in the Newbery club.
It's just as poetic and mysterious and lovely as I remember from the other times I've read it.
I like the book design. Plenty of pages, not too many illustrations, but not many words on each page. It slows down the readers, makes them think about the words and ideas.
I love the subtle characterizations. Somehow we figure out the hunter's nature while being told very little about him, or even spending much time with him. He had a happy childhood, his parents are dead, he's lonely, he's patient, he's not self-centered...
I love the writing style, too. The mermaid "had learned the hunter's words, but she said them to the sea's tune."
I think there's a lot of metaphor and deep themes going on here.
I mean, an easy idea is that even the hunter and mermaid are 'animals.' After all, how else can we readers reconcile our unease with him killing for all those furs he uses to outfit his bed and floor, and with her catching and eating raw fish as she swims, just as another fish would, with our desire to empathize with and like or admire them?
But there's more depth, isn't there?
For example, why, at the end, do they tell ?
And why exactly does the mermaid choose to be basically imprisoned in the cottage? She 'pushes herself along' or gets carried to go anywhere. But the hunter holds her by no word or action or behavior. She says, late in the book, that she finds the consistency of life under the sea boring, but I think the author had something more in mind.
And what did the Newbery committee find to honor? *I* think the book worthy of note for it's poetry and thoughtfulness, but it's atypical of what is usually chosen for Newbery recognition, at least until this date.
December 10, 2022
As followers of this blog know, I am attempting to read all the books featured in the Backlisted podcast and dividing them into phases (every 10 books consist of a phase). I’m now starting the third one and it’s a strong one.
The Animal Family can be described as delightful: A hunter finds a mermaid and she lives with him. After a bear and a lynx join the crew with a boy entering the fold.
That’s it really.
No adventures, no conflict, no villain. It’s just a bunch of unconventional individuals trying to live a conventional lifestyle as a family. We all know a family can comprise of any group and one can’t get a better example than this.
The book itself is a charming piece of work. The writing is clear and a little bit humor dotted in places. For it’s brevity (125 pages), The Animal Family packs a lot of emotion and one can’t help liking all the characters. My only gripe is that it’s out of print and I really do think this should achieve classic status.
The Animal Family can be described as delightful: A hunter finds a mermaid and she lives with him. After a bear and a lynx join the crew with a boy entering the fold.
That’s it really.
No adventures, no conflict, no villain. It’s just a bunch of unconventional individuals trying to live a conventional lifestyle as a family. We all know a family can comprise of any group and one can’t get a better example than this.
The book itself is a charming piece of work. The writing is clear and a little bit humor dotted in places. For it’s brevity (125 pages), The Animal Family packs a lot of emotion and one can’t help liking all the characters. My only gripe is that it’s out of print and I really do think this should achieve classic status.
September 13, 2021
Very wholesome!
I read this story for my creative writing class (discussing it tomorrow). I don't know if I have a different version (mine is printed differently), but this story reads almost like a children's book, but the quality of the writing and the happiness of it is easily 10/10!
I believe this fits the found family trope and the most enjoyable homework reading I have had so far this semester!! :D
I read this story for my creative writing class (discussing it tomorrow). I don't know if I have a different version (mine is printed differently), but this story reads almost like a children's book, but the quality of the writing and the happiness of it is easily 10/10!
I believe this fits the found family trope and the most enjoyable homework reading I have had so far this semester!! :D
December 25, 2008
One of my all-time favourite stories dating back to my early childhood. The Sendak illustrations are beautiful. As sweet and pure as they come. Amazing.
February 28, 2010
I came across this title in a recent edition of the HB magazine. It sat on my shelf at work, and then I brought it home, and it sat some more on top of the chest of drawers. And then I started reading it. First, in spurts -- but those short spurts were enough to want to make me continue. I found out a bit about the author, who was, not surprisingly from the lyrical quality of this book, an American poet - who translated both Chekov and Goethe. And it shows:
This book tells the story of a man who lives on an island until he meets a mermaid - who decides to stay with him for a spell - a long spell, interspersed with visits to her sea people. They are self-sufficient, and by chance and planning, end up making a family with a bear, a lynx and a little human child.
The Animal Family makes a great read-aloud for boys and girls aged 5 to 9 or so (the HB article's subject was just such books). It may feel a bit slow to some because of its rhythm that relies more on episodes of story rather than a single plot; but the language and the thoughtfulness of the happenings make for a kind of magic in reading, enhanced subtly by the signature-style pen and ink illustrations of Maurice Sendak, which are equally contemplative and impersonal. The prose and the pictures make you reflect upon things, or no-things, as the case could be. By the time you reach the end of the novel, you feel like you've lived your own entire life in those pages. The day ahead of you, this moment now, feels different.
The hunter and the mermaid were so different from each other that it seemed to them, finally, that they were exactly alike; and they lived together and were happy.
This book tells the story of a man who lives on an island until he meets a mermaid - who decides to stay with him for a spell - a long spell, interspersed with visits to her sea people. They are self-sufficient, and by chance and planning, end up making a family with a bear, a lynx and a little human child.
The Animal Family makes a great read-aloud for boys and girls aged 5 to 9 or so (the HB article's subject was just such books). It may feel a bit slow to some because of its rhythm that relies more on episodes of story rather than a single plot; but the language and the thoughtfulness of the happenings make for a kind of magic in reading, enhanced subtly by the signature-style pen and ink illustrations of Maurice Sendak, which are equally contemplative and impersonal. The prose and the pictures make you reflect upon things, or no-things, as the case could be. By the time you reach the end of the novel, you feel like you've lived your own entire life in those pages. The day ahead of you, this moment now, feels different.
July 27, 2009
My only regret about this book is that I didn't come across it sooner. Lucky the child (or adult) that has this book read to them! I am going to promptly purchase this for my granddaughter and any new little people that come my way.
Here is how the story is introduced:
"Say what you like, but such things do happen-not often, but they do happen."
Here is an excerpt in which the mermaid is explaining to the hunter the difference between living in the sea and living on land:
"Sometimes the sea is rough, sometimes it's calm, but down underneath it's always the same.
They (the creatures of the sea) don't know how to be bored or miserable. One day is one wave, and the next day is the next, for the sea people-and whether they're glad or whether they're sorry, the sea washes it away. When my sister died, the next day I'd forgotten and was happy. But if you died, my heart would break.
When it storms for the (sea) people, no matter how terrible it storms, the storm isn't real-swim down a few strokes and it's calm there, down there it's always calm. And death is no different, if it's someone else who dies. We say, 'Swim away from it'; we swim away from everything.
But on land it's different. The storm's real, here, and the red leaves, and the branches when they're bare all winter. It all changes and never stops changing, and I'm here with nowhere to swim to, no way ever to leave it or forget it. No, the land's better! The land's better!"
Read this with/to anyone you love.
Here is how the story is introduced:
"Say what you like, but such things do happen-not often, but they do happen."
Here is an excerpt in which the mermaid is explaining to the hunter the difference between living in the sea and living on land:
"Sometimes the sea is rough, sometimes it's calm, but down underneath it's always the same.
They (the creatures of the sea) don't know how to be bored or miserable. One day is one wave, and the next day is the next, for the sea people-and whether they're glad or whether they're sorry, the sea washes it away. When my sister died, the next day I'd forgotten and was happy. But if you died, my heart would break.
When it storms for the (sea) people, no matter how terrible it storms, the storm isn't real-swim down a few strokes and it's calm there, down there it's always calm. And death is no different, if it's someone else who dies. We say, 'Swim away from it'; we swim away from everything.
But on land it's different. The storm's real, here, and the red leaves, and the branches when they're bare all winter. It all changes and never stops changing, and I'm here with nowhere to swim to, no way ever to leave it or forget it. No, the land's better! The land's better!"
Read this with/to anyone you love.
March 12, 2008
I started reading this to Katie and Mia, but had to finish it myself after the first night. We are reading this at bedtime after a few picture books so Mia usually falls asleep or just lies in bed singing to herself. It is an enjoyable story about the creation of a very unusual family which begins when a lone hunter meets a mermaid. Katie is fascinated and giddy with both the oddness and familiarities in the story.
Does anyone have any suggestions for reading bedtime stories to different ages? Generally, I let each girl pick one or two book. We read Mia's first particularly if Katie picks something we won't finish in one night. Often, Mia will not pay much attention to the chapter books -- meaning she will listen for a while and then start doing her own thing. For the most part I think this is working out fine but I don't want mia to get bored. When Katie was Mia's age we would read four or five bedtime stories that were appropriate for her age. Now it is tempting for me to just get on to the chapter books.
Does anyone have any suggestions for reading bedtime stories to different ages? Generally, I let each girl pick one or two book. We read Mia's first particularly if Katie picks something we won't finish in one night. Often, Mia will not pay much attention to the chapter books -- meaning she will listen for a while and then start doing her own thing. For the most part I think this is working out fine but I don't want mia to get bored. When Katie was Mia's age we would read four or five bedtime stories that were appropriate for her age. Now it is tempting for me to just get on to the chapter books.
November 30, 2014
For the characters in Randall Jarrell's Animal Family, the world is a wondrous place, full of adventure and discoveries to be made, but also a familiar one, with all the comforts that implies. The world is new and thus nothing is surprising or shocking but everything is exceedingly fascinating. It should be needless to say that this is quite refreshing. It's a perspective we ought to take in our own lives, but which the conforming pressures of society and our own deeply entrenched habits of thought and reaction often prevent us from achieving.
Animal Family is simple and elegant. It is an image of some universally recognizable potential of domestic life, a glimpse into the happy life of one unlikely household. It is not the 1950's stereotype of domesticity, but rather a pure one based on genuine, earnest, unconditional love and acceptance.
Animal Family is simple and elegant. It is an image of some universally recognizable potential of domestic life, a glimpse into the happy life of one unlikely household. It is not the 1950's stereotype of domesticity, but rather a pure one based on genuine, earnest, unconditional love and acceptance.
March 17, 2015
"That's what they called me. The one who lives with the animals."
My mother read this to me as a child & the memory of it has always been a warm light in my heart.
I finally decided read this on my own, as an adult. I was around four when my mom read it to me. It's so incredible to go back & re-read the books that carved us into who we are as people. And it's magical to think that after all these years, this story is almost exactly as I remembered it.
Books we love become part of who we are and stay with us, always.
My mother read this to me as a child & the memory of it has always been a warm light in my heart.
I finally decided read this on my own, as an adult. I was around four when my mom read it to me. It's so incredible to go back & re-read the books that carved us into who we are as people. And it's magical to think that after all these years, this story is almost exactly as I remembered it.
Books we love become part of who we are and stay with us, always.
December 14, 2015
What a sweet and interesting story! I expected more of an ending, but overall I really enjoyed this. I would have LOVED this as a child. My one question while I was reading is how did the mermaid get around so easily on land?
This was a Newbery Honor winner in 1966.
This was a Newbery Honor winner in 1966.
May 10, 2011
Every once in a while, I pick this book up again so I can sink into its still and beautiful time-before-time. "Say what you like, but such things happen. Not often, but they do happen."
October 12, 2012
I got this for Christmas when I was 9 years old and I still love to read it. Touching, lovely, timeless.
July 2, 2019
All the right elements for my tastes but this just didn't do it for me. Maybe I'm just not happy enough anymore for this kind of story to delight me. Sendak's illustrations, as always, are superb though.
August 13, 2020
This is such a beautiful book! The descriptions of nature are sort of lyrical, lovely to read out loud. The conversations between the characters are also something special; I don't think there has ever been a group of connected individuals like the ones in this story, and so all of their interactions and conversations are something unique and wonderful.
I highly recommend it, especially for reading aloud to kids, but I think it's wonderful for all ages. And I have to add, the illustrations are also amazing!
This is available at the OpenLibrary to read online for free: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15862...
I highly recommend it, especially for reading aloud to kids, but I think it's wonderful for all ages. And I have to add, the illustrations are also amazing!
This is available at the OpenLibrary to read online for free: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15862...
November 28, 2018
Overall, this is a cute and original story of different people coming together to form a close-knit family.
However, the blatant display of entitlement to disrupt others' lives for selfish gain really turned me off. You start off with a quaint, isolated protagonist in a coastal woodsy nook, who manages to capture the intrigue and devotion of an unusual mermaid. Fun start.
But then he comes back from a forray all excited and happy because he's killed a mother bear and absconded with her cub to keep for himself. In his telling of the misadventure, he's not saddened, or even communicative of profound danger or deep fright. His telling of the killing is happy and excited.
Then he boasts of stealing a cub from a lynx mother, creepily saying to the cubs (after she warns her cubs to stay close so they'll be safe and not taken away) that yes, he is going to do so. He also justifies his kidnapping by saying that this mother (who we know cares enough to try keeping her kits from being taken) is never going to miss it, because she has several others. What???? (and remember, these baby animals are placed very closely to the par of people)
At least the baby boy they acquire is actually rescued and not stolen. His mother was already dead, so they didn't have to kill her to get a human child.
So, despite a unique little tale that brings together beings of very different constitutions into a heartwarming little family, the warmth is lost on me. Toss it in the "Who writes this for children??" junk drawer with the Snow White movie.
However, the blatant display of entitlement to disrupt others' lives for selfish gain really turned me off. You start off with a quaint, isolated protagonist in a coastal woodsy nook, who manages to capture the intrigue and devotion of an unusual mermaid. Fun start.
But then he comes back from a forray all excited and happy because he's killed a mother bear and absconded with her cub to keep for himself. In his telling of the misadventure, he's not saddened, or even communicative of profound danger or deep fright. His telling of the killing is happy and excited.
Then he boasts of stealing a cub from a lynx mother, creepily saying to the cubs (after she warns her cubs to stay close so they'll be safe and not taken away) that yes, he is going to do so. He also justifies his kidnapping by saying that this mother (who we know cares enough to try keeping her kits from being taken) is never going to miss it, because she has several others. What???? (and remember, these baby animals are placed very closely to the par of people)
At least the baby boy they acquire is actually rescued and not stolen. His mother was already dead, so they didn't have to kill her to get a human child.
So, despite a unique little tale that brings together beings of very different constitutions into a heartwarming little family, the warmth is lost on me. Toss it in the "Who writes this for children??" junk drawer with the Snow White movie.
September 29, 2017
Randall Jarrell was a poet as well as an author of children's books, a fact which is evident from the prose of THE ANIMAL FAMILY: not because the writing is in any way florid, but because it is perfectly controlled. Here's the first line:
"Once upon a time, long, long ago, where the forest runs down to the ocean, a hunter lived all alone in a house made of logs he had chopped for himself and shingles he had split for himself."
The repetition, the punctuation : it isn't an accident. It is well-practiced compositional balance and rhythm.
A lonely hunter happens upon a mermaid and falls in love. The mermaid--intrigued by the land while the other "sea people" are afraid--moves in with him and, chapter by chapter, they build a family: a bear, a lynx and a human boy.
There are many things to admire about the book, not least the pen-and-ink decorations by Maurice Sendak, and the near-perfect descriptions of the common antics of a cat: "He gave the ball two instantaneous bites, batted it from one paw to the other, flung it into the air, and then began to chase it around the room. He was doing it all himself, but you could never have told that from looking at him or from looking at the ball--the ball came to life and the lynx was after it."
I suppose my only criticism is that, although it's a simple story about redemption and togetherness, I just didn't feel very much for it.
"Once upon a time, long, long ago, where the forest runs down to the ocean, a hunter lived all alone in a house made of logs he had chopped for himself and shingles he had split for himself."
The repetition, the punctuation : it isn't an accident. It is well-practiced compositional balance and rhythm.
A lonely hunter happens upon a mermaid and falls in love. The mermaid--intrigued by the land while the other "sea people" are afraid--moves in with him and, chapter by chapter, they build a family: a bear, a lynx and a human boy.
There are many things to admire about the book, not least the pen-and-ink decorations by Maurice Sendak, and the near-perfect descriptions of the common antics of a cat: "He gave the ball two instantaneous bites, batted it from one paw to the other, flung it into the air, and then began to chase it around the room. He was doing it all himself, but you could never have told that from looking at him or from looking at the ball--the ball came to life and the lynx was after it."
I suppose my only criticism is that, although it's a simple story about redemption and togetherness, I just didn't feel very much for it.
April 4, 2025
4.5
"Say what you like, but such things do happen - not often, but they do happen."
I had no idea I needed such a wholesome and sweet story until I read this one🥹🥹. It scratches a very particular itch I didn't even realise I had. I literally finished the whole thing in one sitting it was so good!
There's something to be said about gentle and soft stories. I think that as I've gotten older, they have found a cosy place in my heart. I'm always down for a good action book, but something about the simplicity and gentleness of this novel was so heartwarming and healing❤️.
It's difficult to describe the plot, because nothing happened and yet everything did. It was a tale about living life and found family and understanding and respect and love. A tale of seashells and furs and waves and land and home.
A tale of a hunter and a mermaid and a bear and a lynx and a boy....
**Content warnings: the mermaids is briefly mentioned as being naked but not in s sexual way; a few mentions of sadness & death**
Recommended ages 10+ for reading level.
~Happy reading~
"Say what you like, but such things do happen - not often, but they do happen."
I had no idea I needed such a wholesome and sweet story until I read this one🥹🥹. It scratches a very particular itch I didn't even realise I had. I literally finished the whole thing in one sitting it was so good!
There's something to be said about gentle and soft stories. I think that as I've gotten older, they have found a cosy place in my heart. I'm always down for a good action book, but something about the simplicity and gentleness of this novel was so heartwarming and healing❤️.
It's difficult to describe the plot, because nothing happened and yet everything did. It was a tale about living life and found family and understanding and respect and love. A tale of seashells and furs and waves and land and home.
A tale of a hunter and a mermaid and a bear and a lynx and a boy....
**Content warnings: the mermaids is briefly mentioned as being naked but not in s sexual way; a few mentions of sadness & death**
Recommended ages 10+ for reading level.
~Happy reading~
April 4, 2015
This is a book about a guy who kills a mother bear so he could raise the bear cub with his friend the mermaid. Then he steals a baby lynx from his mother and raises him too. At the end the mermaid finally decides she likes life on land better because in the ocean people don't really care about anything. Ohhhh-kaaayyy. Weird. And it really does seem to say that it is worth hurting innocent others to get what's most important to you.
Also, the characters in the story are pretty stupid. Is this to try to make them more understandable to kids? It wasn't too bad, but in my opinion it was a little demeaning.
Anyway, the 'Animal Family' at the end is only 1/2 animal - two people, two animals and one mermaid, which I'll call half-and-half. Weird book, but some people seem to like it a lot, so go ahead and read it I guess.
Also, the characters in the story are pretty stupid. Is this to try to make them more understandable to kids? It wasn't too bad, but in my opinion it was a little demeaning.
Anyway, the 'Animal Family' at the end is only 1/2 animal - two people, two animals and one mermaid, which I'll call half-and-half. Weird book, but some people seem to like it a lot, so go ahead and read it I guess.
August 6, 2016
This book is totally amazing and weird, and the pictures are beautiful. It's at a low enough reading level for most intermediate ESOL students, I would think, or intermediate ABE readers, and it has a clear story. There aren't a lot of big questions in it, society-wise, although one could talk quite a bit about what makes a family, and what it is to leave your home and go to another land with another totally different way of life, and what it's like to have a mixed marriage. It's also sort of a story about adoption. It's poetry just as much as it is a novel, and quite short. The characters are very interesting and it might be a nice exercise to have students write from the point of view of some of the characters. And there's the question: where is everyone else? What would happen if this strange family were discovered by the "real world"?
December 16, 2007
I acquired this book in the seventh grade when a teacher was clearing out some shelves. I have always adored this book; its simple but tender prose, and the delightful story it tells. It is so innocent and pleasant, yet never seems to lose touch with the gravity of loneliness, sorrow, and death. I recommend this book to everyone, especially those who, like me, cannot maintain much of an attention span for books. You will love the enchanting history of Jarrell's inspiring and unexpected "animal family". Also, Maurice Sendak's decorations throughout the book are a nice treat. I plan to make it required reading for all of my children.
January 31, 2020
This book, by poet and literary critic, is perhaps my favorite book of all time. Gorgeous, magical, deeply moving... And when you know more about his life and work you realize it was written as a (ultimately unsuccessful, for him personally) bulwark against loneliness and loss, themes which linger around the edges if you are paying attention. I first read it when I was eight and loved it for its poetry, warmth, humor, and magic; now I love it for its insight into humanity, its depiction of real and mythical beings transcending culture, communication barriers and even species to become “family,” and its deep poignancy.
November 7, 2007
pure magic. very delicate.
December 31, 2007
Too sophisticated to be a children's book, to simple to be for adults. I don't know what to do with it, but I love this lyrical, unexpected, and poetic book.
January 28, 2011
An old friend, one of my favorite children's books ever.
January 2, 2012
Absolutely beautiful.
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