The Little Mermaid, illustrated by Chihiro Iwasaki.

For someone who doesn't particularly like the story of The Little Mermaid, I do seem to read it fairly often! From the abbreviated version illustrated by Katie Thamer Treherne, which I found pretty, but unremarkable, to the complete translation, accompanied by the distinctive artwork of noted fairy-tale interpreter, Lisbeth Zwerger, this popular tale has been retold numerous times. The artwork in Michael Hague's edition has always struck me as rather repellent, and oddly ill-suited to the story, whereas Sulamith Wülfing's is the most gorgeous I have seen. It is Charles Santore's retelling, however, that best captures (visually speaking) my own sense of the story.

This edition, illustrated by the marvelous Japanese children's book artist, Chihiro Iwasaki - whose work has been so influential, that there are two museums dedicated to her, in Japan - is the sixth retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's famous tale that I have reviewed in my recent Andersen project, and its chief appeal lies in its dreamy watercolor vistas. Like her work on Andersen's The Red Shoes, Iwasaki's illustrations make wonderful use of color, and convey a sense of almost constant motion, something particularly appropriate in her underwater scenes. I can't say that this is my favorite style of illustration, but it is certainly beautiful, for all that.

The text of this 1984 edition is translated by the prolific Anthea Bell, which I found quite interesting, as she also worked on the subsequent 2004 edition illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. Unlike that second version, however, which was a faithful and complete translation, this Little Mermaid is somewhat abbreviated, and leaves out a number of details, from the surface tales told by the Little Mermaid's sisters, to the final passage concerning her duties as a spirit of the air. The text and illustrations work well together, so I would say that the editorial decisions here are sound. Still, this edition is long out-of-print, so unless the reader is particularly interested (as am I) in Iwasaki's work, I would advise looking for a more recent retelling. ( )