The Mermaid in the Bathtub

by Nurit Zarchi (Author) Rutu Modan (Illustrator)

The Mermaid in the Bathtub
Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade

The Mermaid in the Bathtub is a charming, gorgeously retro retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic story "The Little Mermaid," by beloved Israeli author and illustrator duo Nurit Zarchi and Rutu Modan.

One day, a resolutely ordinary young man named Mr. What-will-they-say returns home to find Grain-of-Sand, a mermaid, waiting for him in his favorite armchair. Despite his objections, the two embark on a series of very watery adventures as he tries to get rid of her. But ultimately the thought of being seen with half a fish is simply too much for Mr. What-will-they-say to bear--what would people say?

So broken-hearted Grain-of-Sand returns to the sea in his bathtub, leaving Mr. What-will-they-say to resume his pedestrian existence. Mr. What-will-they-say soon finds that his beloved landlubber life, however, lacks the splash and shimmer (and bathtub) of his good times with Grain-of-Sand--and acting against all his instincts, he sets off to sea to find her.

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One day Mr. Whatwilltheysay arrives home to discover that his apartment is flooded and that a mermaid named Grain-of-Sand has moved in. Mr. Whatwilltheysay tries to convince Grain-of-Sand to leave, as he is worried about the reactions of his neighbors. Grain-of-Sand counters his arguments and encourages him to think differently about the situation. Eventually Grain-of-Sand leaves and Mr. Whatwilltheysay is forced to think about what he really wants. Grain-of-Sand and her witty responses are a delight throughout the tale, forcing both Mr. Whatwilltheysay and readers to think about what they consider to be "normal." The plot is easily followed, and the vocabulary is age-appropriate and properly nautically themed. Modan's detailed, expressive, and child-friendly illustrations draw readers right into the story and show them a whole new world. The illustrations also work with the story, helping to show the unsaid thoughts and perspectives of each character. Goldfajn has done a great job at translating this story in such a way that the content and wordplay are not lost. Together the creates lead readers right to a treasure trove of perspective, wonder, and a little bit of adventure. VERDICT An excellent translation and tale about accepting others and embracing change.—Margaret Kennelly, iSchool at Urbana-Champaign, IL

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"This is a complex contemporary reimagined fairytale with a refreshing twist that shows the power of transformation when opposites attract." —Jessica DeHart, Neill Public Library (Pullman, WA)

Nurit Zarchi
Nurit Zarchi is an Israeli poet and author of books for adults and children. Zarchi has published many poems in children's magazines and more than one hundred works including children's books, poetry, prose, and research. Zarchi has received major Israeli awards, including the Bialik Prize and the Ze'ev Prize (four times), and she was twice the winner of the Prime Minister's Prize for her literary work.

Rutu Modan is an Israeli illustrator and comic book artist. She is a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and former editor of the Hebrew edition of MAD Magazine. She received a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for her book Exit Wounds in 2008.

Tal Goldfajnis an Assistant Professor of Hispanic Linguisticsat the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She holds a PhD in General Linguistics from the University of Oxford. She is the author of, among others books, Word Order and Time in Biblical Hebrew Narrative (Oxford University Press) and a co-editor of a special issue on Translation and History in Latin America published by the Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe (Tel Aviv University). Her translations of plays by Nelson Rodrigues (from Brazilian Portuguese) and Sergi Belbel (from Spanish and Catalan) have been published by Asia Publishers and staged in Tel Aviv.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781632062116
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Yonder
Publication date
October 15, 2019
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV012040 - Juvenile Fiction | Fairy Tales & Folklore | Adaptations
JUV066000 - Juvenile Fiction | Mermaids
JUV008070 - Juvenile Fiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | Fairy Tales, Folklore, Legends & Mythology
Library of Congress categories
Mermaids

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