review 1: This is a wonderful retelling of the true and entire story of The Little Mermaid is poignant because it also includes a scene where the prince professes his love for the little mermaid and gives the reader a little glimmer of hope that the prince might marry the little mermaid which made it all the more heartbreaking when the prince meets the princess from the other kingdom and falls for the faux-savior..... just it was written in the original tale. Aside from being beutifully retold by Deborah Hautzig, Darcy May's illustrations for the book was simply superb! The illustrations are gorgeous and a truly beautiful works of art. review 2: (Traditional tale selection)A nice younger reader version of the original tale.Using simple text and familiar illustrations,... more this book is great for a beginning reader wanting to read the original tale. It is faithful to the Andersen version, without being too graphic (for example the sea witch magically take the mermaids voice away - similar to the Disney version - instead of cutting her tongue out like in the original). It also takes out any of the religious connotations of the original. The difference in the ending and absence of a happy ending could generate some great classroom discussions on the nature of fairytales.Note: This review refers to the Step 3 edition of "The Little Mermaid." There is a Step 4 edition available also, not sure how different it is. less
