Thursday, June 7, 2012

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson retold by Lisbeth Zwerger

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson retold by Lisbeth Zwerger
Book Type: Children's literature
Author: Hans Christian Anderson
Pages: 48

Summary(goodreads.com):
Once there was a little mermaid who fell in love with a human boy . . . The story may be familiar, but Lisbeth Zwerger's art makes this fairytale seem brand-new. This Jubilee edition, celebrating 200 years of Hans Christian Andersen, is superbly illustrated in Zwerger's signature style. Known for her popular and award-winning editions of classics such as The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, Zwerger is herself the recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for lasting contributions to children's literature. The Little Mermaid is sure to win her new fans, and to delight her old ones. 
The text is an all-new translation by Anthea Bell, and includes many lovely and poignant details that may be new to even those who think they know the little mermaid's story well.

My Review:

My goodness, for a children’s book, this story is quite long and wordy! Yes, as a mermaid book lover I have read the real story of The Little Mermaid. For a book retold for children, you would assume the language would be toned down to an easy-to-understand level and that there would be more artwork than words. However, that is not the case for this book!  This book was exactly like the original version of the story, which might be slightly complicated for younger children to fully comprehend. Also, the artwork in this book was very bland and boring. In my opinion, the artwork was rather flat and didn’t stand out to me, and it was also a bit abstract as well. There were no vivid colors to keep a child’s mind entertained while they read along, and it didn’t interest me as an adult either.  I give this book (**) 2 stars.
-Sirenita The Selkie

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