Call of the Deep

by Beverley Naidoo

This book contains two tales of the sea: in the first, an evil princess persuades her father to build her a palace by the sea - but strikes a terrible bargain that condemns her to the deep forever. In the second, a mermaid longs for a human - and will have him, at whatever cost.

Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

About the author

Beverley Naidoo was born in South Africa on 21 May 1943 and grew up under apartheid. As a student, she began to question the apartheid regime and was later arrested for her actions as part of the resistance movement in South Africa. In 1965 she went into exile, going to England. She married another South African exile; they have two children.

Reviews

[Christina Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up in my local library because I loved The Other Side of the Truth and I am really into mermaid stories at the moment (Blame The Surface Breaks, The Gloaming and To Kill a Kingdom!). It is a very short book containing two stories, their only connection being the sea.

In the first story, a king loses his kingdom, gains another one, then rebuilds his life with a baby daughter after his wife dies. Young sailors keep turning up dead and missing after last being seen with the princess, leading a local priest to take action against her. I found this short story a little disjointed as so much happens in such a short time, often without any apparent reason. I did like the reference to the name of Paris being inspired by the drowned city of Ke-ris, renowned for its beauty.

In the second story we meet a mermaid who becomes entranced by the singing of a young man and begs her father to help her spend some time on the surface so she can hear him properly. Yet, it is dangerous for mermaids to spend too long out of the water so she must be careful. I found this story quite charming and liked the author;s note that this was a story her father used to tell her, saying that her family were descended from this Cornish mermaid.

Yishan Li's illustrations are manga-style and very cute, but I felt that they were more suited to the second story than the first as the first deals with some quite gory subject matter which is in contrast to the pretty illustrations. I do think that the illustrations, overall, enhanced the text, as the water almost seems to have a life of its own.

This book is dyslexia-friendly and could be a good recommendation for less-confident readers or any fans of mermaids in your class, Year 3 upwards.

(Thank you to my lovely library for having a copy on your shelves!)

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unsure what I think about these stories. The second one was kind of cute.