{"product_id":"the-little-mermaid-isbn-9781782692492","title":"The Little Mermaid","description":"\u003cb\u003eDiscover the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that inspired the classic Disney movie!\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eThis stunningly romantic interpretation features gorgeous jewel-toned illustrations—one on every page!—that will delight young readers, 7-10.\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Six young sisters live in the depths of the ocean, longing for the chance to see the beauty of the earth. Most eager of all is the youngest mermaid, who counts the days to her 15th birthday when her grandmother will finally allow her to rise to the surface.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Her first sight above the water is a large ship on which a beautiful prince is celebrating his 16th birthday. Immediately she falls in love, and so begins her determined quest to join the prince on earth as a human.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Full of wonder and heart, \u003ci\u003eThe Little Mermaid\u003c\/i\u003e remains one of the most powerful fairy tales ever written, and this gorgeously illustrated translation gives it renewed life.\"Denmark's greatest writer\" - \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003eHans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was born in Odense, Denmark, the son of a poor shoemaker. The king helped to pay for his education, enabling him to become a short-story writer, novelist and playwright. He remains best known for his fairy tales, which include \u003ci\u003eThe Red Shoes\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Emperor's New Clothes\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Little Mermaid\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Ugly Duckling\u003c\/i\u003e. Pushkin Children's also publishes \u003ci\u003eThe Snow Queen\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Wild Swans\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHelen Crawford-White lives and works by the sea. She designs covers, illustrates books and creates websites.Far out at sea, the water is as blue as cornflower\u003cbr\u003e petals and as clear as the purest glass. Yet it’s very deep—\u003cbr\u003e deeper than the reach of any anchor rope. You’d have to\u003cbr\u003e stack a lot of steeples on top of each other to reach from\u003cbr\u003e the bottom to the surface. And down at the bottom is\u003cbr\u003e where the sea folk live.\u003cbr\u003e Now, you mustn’t think that the sea floor is only bare\u003cbr\u003e white sand—no, because the most marvellous trees and\u003cbr\u003e plants grow there. Their leaves and stems are so flexible,\u003cbr\u003e the smallest movement of water makes them sway as if\u003cbr\u003e they were dancing. All the fish, big and small, flit through\u003cbr\u003e their branches, just like birds in the air up here. In the\u003cbr\u003e deepest spot of all stands the palace of the Sea King. Its\u003cbr\u003e walls are coral and its high pointed windows the clearest\u003cbr\u003e amber, while the roof is made of clamshells that open\u003cbr\u003e and close with the current. It looks magnificent, because\u003cbr\u003e in each shell there are glistening pearls, and any one of\u003cbr\u003e them would be the pride of a queen’s crown.\u003cbr\u003e The Sea King had been widowed for many years,\u003cbr\u003e and his old mother ran the royal household. She was a\u003cbr\u003e wise mermaid, though proud of her high rank; so she\u003cbr\u003e paraded about with twelve oysters on her tail, while the\u003cbr\u003e other mermaids at court could only have six. But she was\u003cbr\u003e admirable in all other things, especially her affection for\u003cbr\u003e the young sea princesses—her granddaughters. There were\u003cbr\u003e six of these lovely princesses, but the youngest was the\u003cbr\u003e most beautiful of all. Her skin glowed like a rose petal and\u003cbr\u003e her eyes were as blue as the deepest sea. And just like her\u003cbr\u003e sisters, she had no feet, for her body ended in a fish’s tail.\u003cbr\u003e All day long they played in the great palace halls, where\u003cbr\u003e living flowers grew from the walls. When they threw open\u003cbr\u003e the tall amber windows, the fish would swim inside, just\u003cbr\u003e as swallows fly through our windows when we open them.\u003cbr\u003e But these fish swam right over to the little princesses, ate\u003cbr\u003e from their hands and let themselves be petted.\u003cbr\u003e Outside the palace lay a large garden with trees that\u003cbr\u003e were fiery red and navy blue. The fruit shone like gold\u003cbr\u003e and the flowers looked like burning flames, their stems\u003cbr\u003e and leaves forever flickering. The ground was the finest\u003cbr\u003e sand, but it was the blue colour of sulphur when it burns.\u003cbr\u003e Everything was bathed in a wonderful azure glow, so that\u003cbr\u003e you might imagine you were high in the air, gazing only\u003cbr\u003e at the sky above and below you, rather than at the ocean\u003cbr\u003e floor. When the sea was calm, you could glimpse the\u003cbr\u003e crimson flower that all the light seemed to be streaming\u003cbr\u003e from—the sun.","brand":"Pushkin Children's Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304360530149,"sku":"NP9781782692492","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781782692492.jpg?v=1767740275","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-little-mermaid-isbn-9781782692492","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}