Hans Christian Andersen S The Little Mermaid

A mermaid longs for legs so she can be with the handsome prince with whom she has fallen in love.

A beloved classic illustrated by Bernadette Watts—one of Europe’s most recognized and beloved fairy-tale artists! There is only one way the Little Mermaid can win the prince’s heart and gain an immortal soul: she must agree to the sea witch’s terrible deal—give up her voice in return for a pair of legs. But will her dream come true? Bernadette brings to new life this world-famous, unabridged fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen—immersing the reader in the magical world beneath the sea.

"The Little Mermaid" (Danish: Den lille havfrue) is a fairy tale by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince. The tale was first published in 1837 and has been adapted to various media, including musical theatre and animated film.

The famous Andersen's tale about a little mermaid illustrated by Edmund Dulac.

The Little Mermaid Hans Christian Andersen "The Little Mermaid" is a fairy tale by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul. The Little Mermaid dwells in an underwater kingdom with her widowed father (the sea king or Mer-King), her dowager grandmother, and her five older sisters, each of whom had been born one year apart. When a mermaid turns fifteen, she is permitted to swim to the surface for the first time to glimpse the world above, and when the sisters become old enough, each of them visits the upper world one at a time every year. As each returns, the Little Mermaid listens longingly to their various descriptions of the world inhabited by human beings. When the Little Mermaid's turn comes, she rises up to the surface, watches a birthday celebration being held on a ship in honor of a handsome prince, and falls in love with him from a safe distance. A violent storm hits, sinking the boat, and the Little Mermaid saves the prince from drowning. She delivers him unconscious to the shore near a temple. Here, she waits until a young woman from the temple and her ladies in waiting find him. To her dismay, the prince never sees the Little Mermaid or even realizes that it was she who had originally saved his life.

A little sea princess, longing to be human, trades her mermaid's tail for legs, hoping to win the love of a prince and earn an immortal soul for herself.

The classic tale of The Little Mermaid.