The Sea Man by Jane Yolen

Book Type: Children's Literature
Author: Jane Yolen
Pages: 41

Summary(amazon.com):
After the crew of a small Dutch ship pulls a half-man, half-fish creature from the sea, the lieutenant feels honor bound to return him to his domain. What the lieutenant doesn't know is that his compassion has earned him a guardian and a friend whose knowledge of the ocean will forever touch his life.

My Review:
Jane Yolen is an author that has been reviewed on this blog, and she is definitely a creative and imaginative writer. One of my favorite books that she wrote is titled, Neptune Rising  which you can view here. Naturally I was excited to read this, especially since there aren't many books on mermen. The story/plot immediately takes off with no hesitation, and the captivating black and white illustrations help keep the story interesting and also helps the depict the many emotions both the sailors and the merman face. What I also loved is that the story was not written in a juvenile fashion, even though it was in the children's section of the library. Yolen also mentions that this book is based off a real account of a merman sighting! Cool! I do have to mention though, for a kid's book, it was startlingly depressing! The poor merman is thrown around the cabin, left to almost suffocate by the ruthless sailors, and almost dies, leaving his family fatherless! I don't really recommend this as something a child should read right before they go to sleep, but it was definitely an original tale that merfolk will like. I give this book (****) 4 stars. 
-Sirenita The Selkie

The Fish Prince and Other Stories: Mermen Folk Tales by Jane Yolen and Shulamith Oppenheim (15)

Book Type: Folk Tales/ Merman stories
Author(s): Jane Yolen and Shulamith Oppenheim
Pages: 224

Summary(amazon.com):
Mermen? Yes. Long before mermaids emerged to people our inner seas, long before they established their restless, inviting niche in human fantasy, there was the merman. Born of the human need to dominate the great fruitful oceans, to control the vast destructive seas, to regulate the healing rains, to understand the tides, the merman emerged.
The merman was water personified. The imposing water gods could be wheedled, cozened, implored, but-in the end-they were never fooled. How often were Poseidon or Neptune, Lir, Njord and the rest pictured riding the waves along inhospitable shores, shaking their magical tridents or spears or fists at the weak, imploring humans on land? The sea gods called up storms or quieted waves. They flooded the lands. They drowned the unwary.

My Review:
On this blog, you will see that I have read one or two of Jane Yolen's books and was quite impressed with her originality and creativity. Although I found this book interesting in some respects, it seemed more like a glossary or an encyclopedia or mermen and ocean/water gods. Although it did include some stories, they were really cut down in detail. What I did like about this book was that it showed a wide variety of cultures from around the world. Overall, I give this book ***-**** between 3 and 4 stars. 
-Sirenita The Selkie

The Mermaid's Three Wisdoms by Jane Yolen

Book Type: Novel
Author: Jane Yolen
Pages: 112

Summary(amazon.com):
A mermaid who cannot speak is banished from her undersea home and sent to live on land as a human where she is found by a 12-year-old girl with a hearing impairment.

My Review:
When I had first picked up this book and began reading it, I thought it was terrible and I actually stopped and returned it to the library. When I came upon the chance to read it and try it again, I gave in. I thought this book was a bit slow at first, and I found the main character Jess, to be quite annoying and a bit of a brat, and it has nothing to do with the fact that she has a hearing impairment. For me, her personality bothered me because everything had to be her way, and she got jealous quite a bit for a young girl. However, I thought the story picked up towards the middle and ended beautifully. I love stories that end with mysteries at the end of them, and that is what happened at the end of the book. Another comment I must add is that for a book written marvelously, the addition of illustrations was unnecessary  and actually took away from the story. I actually found them to be plain as well. Overall I give this book (***) 3 stars.
-Sirenita The Selkie

Neptune Rising: Songs and Tales of the Undersea Folk by Jane Yolen

 Book Type: Collection Of Short Stories
Author: Jane Yolen
Pages: 149

Summary(goodreads.com):
A collection of stories and poems which feature merfolk.

My Review:
To start, I would like to say finding a proper summary was a bit difficult, I guess because this book isn't that well known. It really should be though, because each story in this fabulous collection was excellent! When I first saw this, I was intrigued by the romantic cover art, but you really cant judge the pages of a book just by its cover. I thought this book was going to be just another collection of mermaid stories that I have read before, such as Melusine or The Selkie Wife, but these are all original stories created by the author. What I really found interesting about this book was that each story has an ending that is whimsical, and makes the reader really become aware of every little character and detail of the story. Another positive point is that readers who love selkies will love this book since there are plenty of selkie stories. This is one of those books where I am telling you mer-readers out there, you must go pick this up, immediatly! You will enjoy it, and it is a book that will not take a long time to read. I am aware Jane Yolen wrote other books on mermaids, and I will check those out for my readers as well. I give this book (*****) 5 stars, and it is going in my mer-library soon!
-Sirenita The Selkie