The Little Mermaid And Other Fishy Tales by Jane Ray

Book Type: Story Collection
Author: Jane Ray
Pages: 176

Summary(goodreads.com):
The sea is full of mystery and enchantment—and this extraordinary collection captures every drop of its magic. Retold and illustrated by the renowned picture-book artist Jane Ray, The Little Mermaid and Other Fishy Tales features an international selection of captivating stories and poems: “The Fisherman and His Wife,” “Whalesong,” “Lobster Quadrille,” “The Ballad of John Silver,” and many more.

My Review:
I stumbled upon this book while looking for mermaid books on my public library's online catalog. As soon as I opened the book, I was amazed at the beautiful pictures! They really help breathe life into the story. I really liked this collection of stories. The font was large, so one can finish this within an hour and a half, and I found it perfectly suitable for kids as well. I also loved how diverse this collection was, and had stories from different parts of the world. Jane Ray, the author of this book, also wrote, Can You Catch A Mermaid? which is also reviewed on this blog. Her creativity really shines in her adaptation of The Little Mermaid. It was so fantastic, I actually wished that Hans Christian Anderson wrote her version over his own! This was a fantastic and short read  if you love water creatures of all kinds. I give this book (*****) 5 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