Thursday 22 August 2019

"The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Geraldine McCaughrean with illustrations by Laura Barrett (Orchard Books)

Before all the controversy surrounding the Disney 'live action' remake of "The Little Mermaid" kicks off, let's immerse ourselves in a truly gorgeous version of the original Hans Christian Andersen story, retold here by Geraldine McCaughrean with glorious new illustrations from Laura Barrett.

"The Little Mermaid" tells the story of Ariel, a mermaid with a wanderlust and a natural curiosity about her world - and the world of humans.

When she falls in love with a prince, the little mermaid persuades an evil sea witch to replace her tail with legs so she can live on land. 

But the price demanded by the wicked sea witch is great: the mermaid's beautiful voice!

Here, Geraldine has adapted the story beautifully, using a rich seam of language that little ones may be unfamiliar with, but will love hearing read aloud to them. 

Coupled with Laura's gorgeous silhouette artwork, it's a book that does as much to engage little ones' imagination through the words as well as the illustrations. 

Sum this book up in a sentence: You're likely to see a zillion different versions of this arriving next year, so grab this version as it's out today in a stunning hardback edition, it's definitely one of the best versions of the story we've seen so far. 

"The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen is out now, published by Orchard Books (kindly supplied for review).