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.