Mermaids Tales

by Ruth Ainsworth

Three mer-children living under the sea long to visit the wonderful world of the land.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1980

About the author

Ruth Gallard Ainsworth was a British writer, of over seventy children's books and numerous radio scripts.

Reviews

[Charlee-Ann Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've had this book forever but never actually read it all the way through until now. It feels very dated, and unfeminist for a book about mermaids. The plot was also very weak at times, one of the mermaids is kidnapped and does nothing but say of how lovely her kidnappers are without addressing the fact that they saw a young girl and thought they'd have her for their own and bring her home, which makes no sense. And a point seems to be drilled through throughout: sea people in the sea and land people on the land yet no one mentions if the sailor who was charmed by a harp to live with them under the sea is actually happy there or not. The mermaid mother also doesn't have a name and is merely referred to as "the mermaid mother". For something I've looked at on my shelf for so long I'd hoped it would've been better...