In the mid-1800s, Andersen wrote many original fairy tales. He has many common themes however to the stories that had been passed down for generations. This story is of a young girl sent away by her evil stepmother. She then must rescue her eleven brothers from the spell that has been placed upon them. In a dream, a fairy came to her and gave her the answer. So after, a king falls in love with her at first sight. This tale is a bit lengthy and has a few passages of irrelevant information, but because the reader feels an emotional attachment to the girl so quickly, attention never waivers. The watercolor illustrations help to support the text, but at times do not have very much contrast, giving them a murky feel. Second graders would be able to read the text; however it may take until fourth grade for children to be able to do it in one sitting.

Why 4 stars?:
Some passages in the story can get a bit lengthy. Although the text is written on a second grade level, it may take a while before students can read this in one sitting. However, they will definitely listen to it, as the characters are very captivating. The illustrations are a little muddy though.

I have owned this book since I was a yong child and has always been one of my favorites. It has all of the trimmings, a wickid step mother and all!

We don't need to see the Little Mermaid's nipples.
(I can never understand why the people who cry out that the nudity is "JUST art!" don't notice that it is never underdressed males, but little girls that we have to look at.)

Amazon.com rates this book for ages 4 - 8, but the text is difficult and violent, and the admittedly lovely art is appropriate for graphic novels in the _Sandman_ vein, not for kids.

Yes, it is a lovely story, yes, it was dark to begin with, and no it is not a children's book.

Good translation, pretty (aside from the gratuitousness) illustrations earn 2 stars.

Sulamith Wulfing's art is gorgeous! Unfortunately, most of the reviews I see here are NOT for her book! They are reviews of the version Rachel Isadora illustrated (see the "nipples" and violence comments); or even for Disney's Little Golden Book adapted from the cartoon. I don't understand why reviews for other versions are displayed here; it's very misleading! If you like Sulamith Wulfing's art, you'll probably like this book.

The Little Mermaid. Illustrated by Sulamith Wulfing; text by Hans Christian Andersen. Translated from the German by Petra Michel.

Sulamith Wulfing is a fantastic artist whose work has been sold as books of plates, calendars, and even decks of cards. This book is special because it is one of the few times that her works illustrate a story. Each page has black and white line drawings and there are ten full page color plates. The color plates are the type of work for which the artist is most known and the ten in this book have been reprinted in her calendars and other collected works. The color is vibrant and the themes of each are sublime. The cover illustration is also the last illustration in the text and shows the mermaid transformed into The Immortal Soul.

An epilog called "The Sacrifice" written by the artist's son, Otto Schulze, states that a new translation of Andersen's story was used and that "parts of the story have been summarized." While staying true to Andersen's original plot, incidents and characters have been left out and parts of the story have been changed. These changes raise the story above being a children's fairy tale and highlight its allegorical theme about the role of love in the quest for immortality. The modified text and the mystical art go together excellently to make this the best rendering of this story I have ever seen. Originally published in German in 1953, this work is as vibrant today as when it was first conceived 50 years ago.

At the end of the book is a brief one page biography of the author with an early photograph of her and a self portrait painted in 1953.

This children's book is about a little witch who has to stay home on Halloween for being too good. When three trick-or-treaters come to her door asking for treats, Little Witch doesn't have any treats, so she gives them a ride on her broomstick. This book was well-written and well-illustrated, but I thought it was a little boring. Written by Deborah Hautzig and Illustrated by Marc Brown, an okay book to read, but not one I'd want to buy.

This book is easy for me to read. It is a little sad at first, but then it gets exciting.

This "STEP into Reading" title is a Step 2 book which means it is intended for Grades 1-3. It is the first of several titles featuring the sweet and fun-loving character, Little Witch, charmingly brought to life by illustrator Marc Brown. The other witch characters Mother Witch, Grouchy Witch, Nasty Witch and the pet bat, Scrubby are funny and not at all scary. The story begins on Halloween when Little Witch is made to stay home from the witchly revels because she has been too GOOD! Oh, the shame of it! She ends up meeting some trick-or-treaters and they have a lot of fun together. There are lots of funny rhyming spells and exciting and good-hearted adventures. Halloween fun abounds. The pictures and the text are lively and will definitely encourage interest. I recommend this not only as a great incentive for reading but as an enjoyable Halloween story that can just as well be read aloud by a parent. Don't miss Happy Birthday, Little Witch. It's good, too.

As I've stated in several other reviews, I used to read this series of books to my much-younger adopted sisters back when they were first in print in the 80s and early 90s. Now that I have a child of my own I have been re-collecting these books to read to him.

The focus of this book is -- yep you guessed it -- Grover's new jacket, sent to him as a gift (is it his birthday? hmmm guess we will never know) by his grandma. Grover is the envy of Sesame Street in his vintage 1980s Members-Only style red jacket, and wears it everywhere to bring him luck at school, playing jacks, etc. He wins the part of the prince in his class's school play and while he works hard to practice his lines, he knows his jacket will bring him the luck he needs to do the part well. That is of course until he loses it backstage right as the show starts, almost has a complete nervous breakdown, and wants to quit the show right then and there. After a pep talk from the ever-supportive Mr. Lester, Grover goes on and does the part beautifully, even without his jacket -- which he is happily reunited with at the end of the book.

Hautzig does a good job with this book, centering the story on the common young childhood drama of a favorite/lucky object and being parted with it, and having to deal with being without it. Chartier's artwork is nicely done and supports the story well. The book is one of the better ones in the series and a worthy addition to your Sesame Street book collection.

This was my 1st grade daughter's first "Level 3" book. Although the story was somewhat different from the wonderful film, she loved it. The reading level was just right - not too hard, not too easy. And what a relief for her to break out from reading simple books with silly characters, silly plots, etc. Highly recommended.

This book is beautifully illustrated and the story is an abreviated version of the origional which is nice for young children. My only complaint is that the character "Clara" is called "Marie" which is very confusing to children (and adults).

As I've stated in several other reviews, I used to read this series of books to my much-younger adopted sisters back when they were first in print in the 80s and early 90s. Now that I have a child of my own I have been re-collecting these books to read to him.

Why Are You So Mean To Me? is a story probably most parents will be able to sympathize with -- Grover goes to his school picnic with a brand-new baseball bat from his mother, and after confessing he has never played baseball before to the ever-obnoxious Truman (the same Truman from Grover Goes to School), Grover is picked last for the baseball game when Truman whines that Grover has never played before and will make his team lose. Grover tries hard to prove him wrong but loses the game for his team, while the rest of the kids on his team chime in with the tormenting Truman in ridiculing him. Grover, upset about this awful treatment from his classmates, takes out his frustration on an unsuspecting Big Bird, who is understanding about the situation and proves what a great friend he is by practicing baseball with Grover until he gets one hit, and gives him a painting as a present.

The artwork is a bit weak here but the message is solid and will help children who might find themselves in this situation with the knowledge that someone, even if it's the fictitious Grover, knows what they are going through and that they do have true friends who will always care about them, and conversely it shows how much mean words can really hurt others and that you should always take great care in what you say to other people. A must-have for anyone with school-aged children.

Ernie and Bert's New Kitten is a very good book. I enjoyed it a lot. The book is about a kitten that Bert and Ernie's neighbor's cat has. The boy's beg and beg until they finally get the kitten. They think that it will all be fun and games, until the kitten starts to wreak havoc on their house and destroy their things. My favorite part was when Ernie started trippin' because the kitten chewed a hole in his rubber ducky and before that when he was singing to the rubber ducky. The book teaches little kids responsibility and how important it is to take care of your things, especially if it is a living thing, like a kitten. It also has very colorful pictures that go with the story very well.

Is it me or is every review they do of this series of books negative and completely non-specific? Obviously the individual who reviewed these books for them has completely forgotten what 5 and 6 years old actually like to read in books. Oh well.

As I've stated in several other reviews, I used to read this series of books to my sisters back when they were first in print in the 80s and early 90s. Now that I have a child of my own I have been re-collecting these books to read to him.

Ernie and Bert's New Kitten should be a mandatory purchase for anyone who bought the Two Wheels for Grover Book, as it shows children the actualities involved with being responsible for a kitten. Ernie and Bert get one of Susan's cat's new kittens and don't quite seem to know what they are getting into beforehand -- Bernie the kitten dumps his food and water all over the floor, destroys Bert's paper clip collection, and scatters their favorite possessions all over the apartment/house they live in. The last straw for Ernie comes when Bernie chews a hole in Rubber Duckie, and he hollers at the terrified kitty. Bert calms him down, fixes Rubber Duckie, and they both realize that having a kitten is a lot like having an Ernie -- cute and funny but also messy and kind of clueless sometimes.

This book is definitely not Hautzig's best, and the ending is a bit weak (is it really a great idea to show that yelling at one's pets is okay behavior?) but overall it gives a good overview of what actual pet ownership entails. Required reading for any children begging their parents for a pet.