I really liked "A Book of Mermaids" because Ruth Manning-Sanders does a really good job at telling a different story about mermaids in every chapter. The main purpose of this book is to share different stories about mermaids. They are mystical and magical creatures who's worlds are enjoyable to read about. Although there are some similar characteristics in the stories, such as mermaids usually having long hair that they like to comb, no characters were similar and they all had different plots which I found very innovative. In one story, a mermaid's parent was a whale, while in another story, the whale is the king of the sea. Some of my favorite stories from the book are The Lost Prince, The Kingdom of Ocean, Margrette, The Comb, the Flute, and the Spinning Wheel, and The Untidy Mermaid. I liked The Lost Prince because it made the mermaid sort of the villain of the story, which is different than most popular mermaid tales. As a fan of tales of mermaids and the ocean, I really enjoyed reading these stories. However, a con about this book would probably be how short the stories are. Because each story is condensed, it does jump time periods quickly. I also felt like it could have had more clear, descriptive details to help enhance the story and its setting. There were times I would get confused about certain things such as the herd of cows and large bull in the story Rake Up! I wasn't sure if these animals were animals that lived underwater with the mermaids or if the mermaids were on land with them. I also really wanted to know more about certain stories despite it ending at the end of the chapter. ( )