Ariel The Birthday Surprise

by Gail Herman, Andrea Cagol (Illustrator)

Ariel's sister Adella is having a birthday celebration. It's going to be a fun-filled day complete with a birthday concert, and Ariel is excited about visiting her family. She only wishes Prince Eric could go, too. At the party Adella wishes that Ariel could stay. That very moment, a rare solar eclipse hits, and Adella's wish comes true! Will Ariel ever be able to break the spell and return to Eric-and her life as a human?

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Mermaids, Romance, Young Adult

25 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 30, 2011

About the author

Gail Herman, formerly a children's book editor in New York City, has written picture books, easy-to-reads, and chapter books, including many titles in the Who Was/What Was series. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts with her family.

Reviews

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that this is precisely the type of book I've been looking for to read with my four-year-old daughter. I want to introduce her to chapter books, but many of the ones out there for beginners are still well over her head. This book is quite the opposite however. It's a cute story about Ariel transforming back into a mermaid for a day to attend her sister's underwater birthday party; when returning isn't quite as easy as she planned, the characters must enact a magical plan in order to discover that compromise is often the best option. The storyline is simple enough to keep young readers (listeners) engaged, and there are plenty of colorful and detailed illustrations to provide visual cues for what is happening. Overall, this incorporated several of my bedtime reading criteria: simple--yet not stupid--story; colorful illustrations that show up well on my Kindle and Kindle apps; characters with which my daughter is familiar and interested in; and short, focused chapters. It would be great if there were some merpeople of color in Triton's kingdom, but other than that, this was a hit with us!

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ariel: The Birthday Surprise by Gail Herman is a story about Ariel's sister Aquata's birthday. Aquata makes a wish for Ariel to stay with her forever, but Ariel needs to get back to Eric. Will she be able to get back? This a story about accepting someone's life choice and still loving them, and letting them live their life the way they choose.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the books in this series, this was probably my favorite of them all that I've read so far. I love the premise, Ariel is very true to herself, yet she's gained in maturity and you can see that she still loves her family very much, even after everything that's happened (let's face it, her sisters haven't always been all that supportive of her).

I like the idea of taking familiar characters and presenting them in a bright and colorful easy to read format. Here we get a lovely continuation of the story, with enough 'meat' to the story to actually make it interesting and engaging. I like how Eric is portrayed, and the resolution plays out in an interesting and unique way. There's some pretty deep characterization going on as well, which surprised me given how few words are used to tell the story.

Overall I recommend this entire series for your little Disney lovers. Learning how to read is definitely fun with books like this to engage and encourage!

[Angieleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love Ariel!

Once again we're whisked on an adventure with our favorite redheaded mermaid princess! The illustrations are beautiful, the story is easy to follow along, and we get to revisit our favorite land and sea friends.

I highly recommend this for readers of all ages!

[Oran Dixson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good bedtime story

Good bedtime story for my daughter. I was able to break it up over a few days by reading a couple of chapters a night. The pictures were great because I was able to zoom in to see the details. I just wish there were more of them.

[Rissa Biagi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

My daughter enjoyed the listen and I enjoyed the read. My kiddo is 6 yo and immediately asked for it again. Perhaps a bit too lively for just before bed, but a really good story line. 🙂

[suyoung jang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Umm well

The thing AI liked about was that my fave Disney princess got the longest story but about the other princesses don't have ANYTHING to do with Rapunzel. Anyways every Writer has a dream... Right?

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

What could be better than reading with your 4-year-old grand? Nothing I'll tell you. She loved every page of this book and now we've also gotten several more in the series. It's not great literature, but who cares if it fosters the love of reading in a little kid.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up.

This was a cute and fun read. I needed something light while in the middle of reading another book that deals with heavy themes and this was a nice distraction from that. The illustrations were also really well done.

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a picture book but was a bit much for my three-year-old.
Would be perfect for a first grader to read on how Ariel celebrates her sisters’ birthday but then gets stuck and tries to return to land.

[Arif Hasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish I also could pretend it was the same day as yesterday and take a chance to change it.

Merged review:

Wish I also could pretend it was the same day as yesterday and take a chance to change it.

[DARPANARAYAN KHUNTIA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

Enjoyed a lot for this series of Disney.will recommend to my school friends. Hope the other Disney series books are good too

[Vee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love rapunzel👸

I’m on my mommy’s profile and I read this book and I love it cause I luv rapunzel and beacause its has really pretty pictures

[Mandalorian Jedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

My daughter really enjoyed leaning more about the big day of adventure than we saw in the movie. If you or your children enjoyed Tangled, give this book a try.

[Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

** 3 and a half stars
I mean, it's for a younger audience, but it's still pretty good.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely adorable.

[Yoseiln · Rating 3 out of 5]

yper2911@csd99.org

[Stephen Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOL, the greatest birthday surprise is King Triton, Ariel's daddy and future granddad of Eric and her only child, Melody!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the enemy of dead nemeses Ursula and Medusa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sarah Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with my daughter and found it to her very cute!

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining Disney book.

[Monica da Silva Fernandes Martins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

Escolhi ele para treinar minha leitura em inglês, o que foi excepcional já que são personagens conhecidos, leitura simples mas não tão infantil.

[Evangelina Meletrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

love it

My daughter is 7 and I read her this story every night and she love it. She love the mermaid story

[CATastrophe]

This is a story I read as a kid. I don’t know how to rate it, since I haven’t read it since. But the memory of its existence has lived on in my mind.

[Madalino Cherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5: cute! :)

[Sondra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good night

Read to my 8 year old daughter at bed time. She really enjoyed it. A chapter every night. Love family time

[Victoria Bridenbecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute and adorable story about having the best birthday celebration planned for Ariel's sister until she wished she could start over again and return home.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of the Disney Princess series I've read, and it is exactly what I expected. Short and sweet with a plot that is easy to follow interspersed with beautiful illustrations. This is a nice book for moving from Easy fiction into short chapter books. The sentences are simple and the text is large, so it is a book that'll have great appeal for children reading on their own.

[金井彩音 · Rating 4 out of 5]

1 Gail Herman/Disney press
2 4/30=60mins 5/1=60mins total=120mins
3 mermaid/birthday/party/sea/sisters/sun/dark
4 Did you hanker for the mermaid when you were child?-Yes, I belived the mermaid.
5 I like Disney and Ariel so I could enjoy reading! I understood "mer" mean. I want to recommend this book to friends.

[SamZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ariel is invited to a sleepover birthday party under the sea for her sister. During a magical storm, however, a birthday wish goes awry and Ariel is unable to turn back into a human and return to her husband, Prince Eric. This was a cute story and I love reading about what the princesses do while living in their "happily ever after."

[Emily Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love!

my daughter is 5 and she has become interested in me reading chapter books to her rather than short story or beginner reader books. These junior novelizations of her favorite Disney movies are awesome. They aren't too long or confusing and they still have a cute story with all her favorite characters.