The little mermaid by Alex Field

Ill. by Owen Swan. Happily Ever After series. New Frontier Publishing, 2018. ISBN 9781925059816
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Everyone knows the story of "The Little Mermaid" thanks to the Disney movie. This is just as beautiful but with characters more attuned to the original version of the story. "The Little Mermaid" is a traditional fairytale of a mermaid falling in love with a human and sacrificing something special for a chance to see her dreams come true. Ariel is the mermaid who has many sisters and a king for a father. Once Ariel turns 16, she is allowed to visit the ocean's surface where she first sees and falls in love with a young prince. After rescuing him from a shipwreck, Ariel chooses to give up her voice to walk like a human and hopefully have the prince fall in love with her too. Will the sacrifice work? How can her father help Ariel's dreams come true?
"The Little Mermaid" is easy to read and especially good for children who may have never seen the movie. The illustrations are simple and feel like they belong to the original version of this story. Like all fairy tales, "The Little Mermaid" is a great bedtime story and this version is not as dark with the good king quickly overcoming the evil sea witch. In classrooms, fairy tales are always used as part of the English curriculum. This version of "The Little mermaid" could be used to deconstruct the structure of a narrative, support children with identifying problems and solutions and support writing the story with different characters. Younger children will enjoy having the story read to them and independent readers will find this easy and quick to read. The book is highly recommended for readers aged 5+.
Kylie Kempster