Once there was a little mermaid who fell in love with a human boy . . . The story may be familiar, but Lisbeth Zwerger's art makes this fairytale seem brand-new. This Jubilee edition, celebrating 200 years of Hans Christian Andersen, is superbly illustrated in Zwerger's signature style. Known for her popular and award-winning editions of classics such as The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, Zwerger is herself the recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for lasting contributions to children's literature. The Little Mermaid is sure to win her new fans, and to delight her old ones. The text is an all-new translation by Anthea Bell, and includes many lovely and poignant details that may be new to even those who think they know the little mermaid's story well. Grade 3-6–Bell provides a smooth and accurate translation of Andersen's moralistic tale of a little mermaid who saves a prince from drowning, then gives up her own life to ensure his happiness. The cover illustration showing the little mermaid pulling the prince to shore sets the tone for the story to come. Soft blues and greens predominate in Zwerger's impressionist watercolors, but she has added some eye-catching spots of color to the people, buildings, and boats. There is also color in the many small illustrations of fish and other sea creatures that appear throughout, adding a bit of brightness to the narrative's heavy-handed emphasis on suffering and death, and breaking the monotony of pages packed with text. Sentences printed in colored type serve as captions for the larger paintings. This version will be appreciated by an older, more sophisticated audience than Rachel Isadora's condensed retelling (Putnam, 1998) with its warmly colored, more realistic scenes. –Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Reviewed with E. T. A. Hoffman's Nutcracker . Gr. 3-5. Artist Zwerger expands her repertoire of beguilingly illustrated tales by two, both of which contain surprises for readers primarily familiar with popular film or stage versions. Mermaid reinstates the tragic ending and spiritual-mystical components abandoned by Disney; nutcracker , though condensed by adaptor Susanne Koppe, preserves the Mouse King's seven heads and devotes a good chunk of the narrative (as in Hoffman's original) to the story-within-a-story starring Princess Pirlipat. The hypnotic, even slightly chilly, sensibility that pervades Zwerger's work seems a more logical accompaniment to the poignant Mermaid than to Nutcracker , whose spirited fantasy seems somehow dampened by the artist's penchant for quiet, dimly lit scenes and slightly arcane imagery. Zwerger first illustrated The Nutcracker and the Mouse King in 1979, but has created entirely new paintings this time around, which will compete for balletomanes' attention with Sendak's lengthier, more rambunctious 1981 treatment. These renditions of cherished stories will prove useful in the coming months, as the 200th anniversary of Andersen's birth approaches and as ballet companies commence their annual march to the Kingdom of Sweets. Jennifer Mattson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Lisbeth Zwerger lives in Vienna, Austria.