The Little Mermaid

by Hannah Eliot, Nïvea Ortiz (Illustrator)

Overview

A classic fairy tale gets a fresh twist in this vibrant Caribbean spin on the Little Mermaid!

The Little Mermaid longs to know about the world above the ocean. When she’s finally old enough to visit, she falls in love with a prince! A sea witch agrees to give the mermaid a potion that will make her human—but the spell will be broken if the prince doesn’t love her too! Set in the Caribbean, with beautiful illustrations by Puerto Rican illustrator Nivea Ortiz, this fifth book in the Once Upon a World series is the same beloved fairy tale but it’s totally reimagined.

Once Upon a World offers a multicultural take on the fairy tales we all know and love. Because these tales are for everyone, everywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534435759
Publisher:	Little Simon
Publication date:	12/18/2018
Series:	Once Upon a World
Pages:	24
Sales rank:	115,270
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	2 - 4 Years

About the Author

Hannah Eliot is a children’s book editor who lives in Vermont. Her favorite activities include editing (of course), writing, drawing, and spending time with her family!

Nívea Ortiz is an illustrator from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She loves to draw and paint with a palette as intense as the colors of the Caribbean. A graduate of Pratt Institute in New York, she holds a BFA in illustration. Nívea has a prominent career in the field of children’s illustration, collaborating with renowned publishing companies as well as many diverse clients. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators and the Publishers Association of the West, amongst others.

Editorial Reviews

2018-12-05

This board-book version of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale is set in the Caribbean.

Eliot's adaptation eliminates some of the more-disturbing plot elements in Andersen's original, making it feel much closer to the Disney version but with brown-skinned humans and merfolk. Once she's been given her feet, the Little Mermaid does not feel as though she's walking on glass and she is not motivated by a desire for an immortal soul, but the heroine still sacrifices her voice, her birth family, and her agency for the love of a rather clueless prince. The Caribbean setting is a good choice for a story in which the sea features prominently. Ortiz's lush illustrations reflect her Puerto Rican heritage. The sea witch, with her pointy nose, red lips, sharp-angled eyes, hoop earrings, and colorful headwrap is reminiscent of the vejigante masks that are part of carnival in Puerto Rico. However, the small trim size does a disservice to the art. The story has been simplified, but with four to seven lines of text per page, it is still too long for the board-book audience. As with other titles in the series, a larger, picture-book format would help this tale find a receptive audience of school-age children who are able to critique the subtext of the classic story even as they appreciate this version's gorgeous original art.

Another format-audience mismatch for the Once Upon a World series. (Board book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews