The original story of the little mermaid, like many of Andersson's stories has Christian undertones. In fact it is said that mermaids have no soul and when they die they will just be sea foam. In fact, I actually like that reading of the story.

In this version there is only death that she is worried about. It was better than the Disney version, to be sure. And the pictures were nice but I still prefer the original, with its word imagery.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review

The illustrations were BEAUTIFUL and the story was fantastic! I loved that they stuck to the Hans Christian Andersen version. Happy endings are all well and good but this story was perfect without it!

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

“The Little Mermaid” is, perhaps, one of Anderson’s most well-known tales, though most people I would wager, do not know the source material and cling to the Disney version. The duo of Metaphrog does not do Disney.
Which is a good thing.
Anderson’s tale left me conflicted when I re-read it as an adult, leaves me conflicted whenever I read it know. It isn’t the stepping on knives bit; it’s how the prince treats the mermaid. She sleeps at the foot of his bed, he pets her, she is his dog – faithful to the end. But in fairness to the prince, it isn’t that the mermaid wants him; she really wants a soul. He is a way to gain a story. The whole relationship is strange, yet the mermaid succeeds to a degree because she has more of the “Christian virtues” that the prince should have.
In some ways, this excellent adaption of the story shies away from those issues. The Little Mermaid here is in love with the prince (and perhaps legs). The adaption’s ending is faithful to the choice that Anderson’s character makes. Yet, the image is subtly different for the choice occurs before the wedding. Despite the use of legs, including slit dresses, Metaphrog seem to have tamped down the sexual elements of the story as well as the idea of a soul -the term immortal is used instead, which means the original mermaid might not have had a problem with that.
Those issues aside there is much to love in this. The artwork – blues and greens – is wonderful. The paneling of the story is great. There are people of color, though the two central characters are white. The Sea Witch is not an Ursula type and comes across as a helper.

A beautifully illustrated books, my daughter really enjoyed reading this book with me as she is very much into the idea of mermaids! A lovely take on a well known story book, I think I much prefer delving into the world of The Little Mermaid with this book. I would recommend.

A BEAUTIFUL WORK

Growing up, I always love the Disney version of The Little Mermaid. A few years back, I found the original story by Hans Christiaan Anderson. This book is based on that version. So don't expect a happy ending! Nevertheless, the story of the little mermaid comes to live through gorgeous illustrations. I was fascinated by every detail and facial expression. Gorgeous edition of The Little Mermaid.

Visually stunning and accurate to the source text. I was enraptured from the first click and marveled at the beautiful detail of both the text and illustrations. Bravo.

Generally reviving classic tales can be old hat and feel overdone, however new life has been given to The Little Mermaid with this enchantingly illustrated graphic-novel! A wonderful way for children, especially young girls, to explore graphic-novels and classic fairy tales all in one. A must-read and a must-buy for your classroom library!

A lovely retelling of the classic fairy tale. Stunning artwork, the little mermaid's hair almost shimmers off the page.

Those familiar with the Little Mermaid story will find no surprises. I really enjoyed the artwork, especially for the party scene aboard the doomed ship of the Prince. The fashion reminded me of what they would wear in the 1920's. Really nice addition to old fairy tale revisits.

The Little Mermaid, by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, has always been one of my favorite stories. Not the Disney version, which had its own charm to be sure, but the original and much sadder fairytale of love, loss, and sacrifice. There are many beautiful books with the Andersen story intact and really I've rarely come across a bad version.

This Metaphrog retelling comes with very stylized full color illustrations. Clean line and chalk-like drawings are overlaid with patterns and textures to create a very modern look. The styling, however, is very reminiscent of 'hippie' art of the 1970s. The colors are rich and deep and the cover is very indicative of what you will find inside. This is suitable for reading to children of all ages.

If I have one nitpick, it is that the mermaid's inner dialogue about not being able to verbally express herself felt unnecessary and overly simplistic. Instead of text, I would have preferred the images to showcase the emotions/feelings - then the Little Mermaid wouldn't have sounded like she has the depth of a toddler who doesn't have the language to express that they want peanut butter rather than tuna sandwiches.

That aside, this is a lovely addition to a fairy tale collection and I appreciate the original story being left intact here with the sad ending. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

This graphic novel has an interesting art style, which works well for the theme. And a pretty good story.

I just recently read the original story of The Little Mermaid, so when I saw this, I decided to see if it was any different, or just a direct retelling with graphics. It's mostly the same, the ending is just different. Either way, I still don't think it's a great story. I just don't agree with what she does just in the hopes of MAYBE marrying this prince she saw a handful of times, but never interacted with. What you see in the Disney movie is actually watered down, obviously, and I don't even agree with that either! All that being said, the graphics in this are gorgeous. So that's why I gave it one more star than the original.

The illustrations were amazing. Absolutely beautiful. Loved a new twist on a story I grew up with.

5 helms
<img src="http://www.vellumvoyages.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/5stars.png" width="150" height="30" alt=""/>

Please follow me on my blog :) Review originally posted on Vellum Voyages (www.vellumvoyages.com)

Oh Lord this version always breaks my heart…..Absolutely stunning pictures dominated by my favourite hues of blues, greens and violets and a beautiful retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s “Little Mermaid” enjoyable for kids of all ages. Don’t expect the Disney happy ending though, as this is the original version! I had to stop reading at one point as I nearly cried on the tube (I’m such a sap!). A lovely, graphic reprieve from the real world :) Loved it!!! Oh and Metaphrog are Scottish! Double love!

On a sidenote, I was lucky enough to visit the Hans Christian Anderson Museum and the Little Mermaid statue at Copenhagen last Christmas. It really is fitting our little mermaid is placed at the Langelinie promenade, not just as a tribute to Hans Christian Anderson but also so that she can look over both worlds and have have the best of both as she deserves. Such a gorgeously poignant statue. Sigh….

*Thank-you Metaphrog, Netgalley & Papercutz for the ARC.

Absolutely gorgeous.
The Little Mermaid has always been one of my favourite fairytales, and I loved the fact that this was a rendition of the original story (and not the Disney-fied version).
The use of color for the different realms was really powerful, it enhanced the story beautifully. The mix of styles and influences worked well in this book.

Sorry I can't access this title for some reason so cannot review.

I was drawn to this because of the unique cover art. The illustrations are vastly different from normal illustrations and I was torn between liking them and disliking them. The story as portrayed in the illustrations seems to be set in no real time period but somewhere with elements from different ones. The story itself sticks close to the original version of the story with only a few differences. Am I the only one curious enough to wonder how mermaids can see a ship passing above from the bottom of the sea. If the water isn't that deep these magical kingdoms must be invisible to human eyes! Still this would be a wonderful book for mermaid lovers.

This was incredible! They adapted the text wonderfully, and the art was beautiful. I loved the colour scheme! I would definitely recommend this one.