The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid, illustrated by Sulamith Wülfing.

I am somewhat bemused to find myself giving any edition of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid - a tale about which I have, at best, ambiguous feelings - a full five stars, but I was so enchanted by Sulamith Wülfing's gorgeous artwork that four stars just wasn't sufficient. This astonishingly beautiful picture-book now ranks up there with my all-time favorite Andersen retellings, from Vladylsav Yerko's The Snow Queen, to Anne Yvonne Gilbert's The Wild Swans. How glad I am that I requested it through Inter-Library Loan! Now I need to obtain a copy of my own...

The narrative itself, translated from the German edition by Petra Michel, is a fairly standard retelling - one that is mostly faithful to the original, although the highly moralistic ending, in which the Little Mermaid's fate depends upon the behavior of the children she encounters, has been thankfully removed. But the illustrations - both black and white prints interspersed with the text, and full-page color paintings - are breathtakingly beautiful, capturing the wild eldritch magic of the tale. Fantastic in theme, and rich in decorative detail, Wülfing's art here is clearly influenced by both Celtic and Norse design. A visually stunning title, sure to appeal to fantasy and fairy-tale art lovers!

Note: parents who find nudity in a children's book objectionable, should be aware that Wülfing depicts the Little Mermaid in all her naked glory, even showing (as one amazon reviewer noted with outrage) her nipples. ( )

VHS - 30 min.

This is a shortened version of Andersen's original fairy tale. The text captures the highlights and is beautifully enhanced by watery illustrations.

While I'm not familiar with the original fairy tale, this story seemed to be much different from the version I know. It has a decent message, but I'm not sure how I would use it with children. I do believe that it teaches a great lesson about the consequences of our actions, but it does it in the name of "love," which is only infatuation-at-first-sight from the mermaid. While the underlying message is a good one, I don't like the form in which it comes.

This is a traditional fairy tale about a mermaid, who meets a prince, and must give up her most beautiful talent to become human. The setting in this story is well established quickly at the beginning. The plot is simple, and direct. The illustrations in this book are very basic, yet colorful, and creative.
I remember watching The Little Mermaid on television, and I remember from a long time ago, I think the movie was called Mermaid, with Tom Hanks in it. I loved that movie!
A great extension idea would be to have students draw their vision of what the Mermaid would look like. Another would be to have students come up with costume ideas, and have them dress like Mermaids. ( )