My thanks to Laurence King Publishing Ltd. for a temporary digital edition via NetGalley of ‘The Mermaid Atlas: Merfolk of the World’ by Anna Claybourne with illustrations by Miren Asiain Lora in exchange for an honest review.

Oh how I would have adored this picture book/atlas when I was a child as I was obsessed with merfolk and even created my own comics depicting them in their underwater homes interacting with other sea creatures.

Here Anna Claybourne has collected merfolk ‘facts’ and short retellings of tales from all over the world organised by continent. Many of these types of merfolk were new to me so it proved a fascinating journey.

I found Miren Asiain Lord’s illustrations enchanting with tiny details that enhanced the text.

My only slight problem with the digital edition provided for review was that some pages had white text on a pale pink background that didn’t provide enough contrast to allow me to read. Still, this is unlikely to effect the print edition.

Overall, a magical compendium to delight lovers of mermaid lore of any age.

I adored how this book was set up! An actual atlas of many of the different mermaid myths and legends that exist around the world. Some I had heard of, some I hadn’t. This book will excited any fantasy fan with the facts and tidbits herein,

We love all the facts and information in this book all about different Mermaids of the world, the illustrations however we wasn't a fan of. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

What a beautiful gift for young mermaid or mythology lovers! The delightful illustrations offset the stories, fact files, and descriptions in this book full of mermaid info from around the world.
You can find out about many different cultures' interpretations of mermaids and the history of this mysterious phenomenon.
I think children aged 4+ would enjoy reading this with an adult, and kids aged 7-14 would be enthralled reading alone.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A non-fiction for young readers interested in mermaids. Detailing a lot of mermaids story and myths and folk tales from around the world, focusing on each region and continent, I discovered a lot and knew a lot from these sweet short illustrated bios.

In addition to that, it includes different chapters like their magical powers and sightings and myths. It's short and would appeal to myth lovers of all ages, but definitely younger readers.

I thank Netgalley and Laurence King Publishing Ltd for the digital ARC.

The Mermaid Atlas is a non-fiction picture book for kids.

It's hard to believe that publishers have managed to create a non-fiction title on creatures that are entirely fictional, but here it is! And splendidly done.

This 48-page picture book feels like a fun geography, global cultures, and mythological literatures course rolled into one. The author has organized the material by region, giving short summaries of the mermaid mythology of the cultures there. I found this title to be a compelling read for myself and my kids whom I homeschool. It kept their fascination the entire time and served as a tour through several faraway countries. As an introduction to the folklore in places like Fiji, Japan, and India - places where I'm sure there are mermaid stories that are inaccessible to young American kids - this title is wonderful for providing that multi-cultural lens on a topic that apparently holds universal interest.

I enjoyed breaking out of the typical Hans Christian Andersen "Little Mermaid" narrative popular in the West, as well as the dominating narrative in our popular culture as commercialized by Disney's Little Mermaid. Thank you to NetGalley and Lawrence King Publishing for providing me an advanced review copy.

This was such a fun addition to this series, I’ve loved every one so far and they are definitely auto-read in our homeschool. I think this is simple enough to engage with a young elementary student or for an older one to enjoy on their own, perfect to do a unit study on myths/legends/fairytales from around the world and how similar and different they can be.

This is such a beautiful book.
I need to buy it on paper because I absolutely fell in love.

The illustrations are gorgeous and hey it is about mermaids and all those beautiful story's and legends about mermaids from all around the world a super.

So thanks for letting me read this book.

Personally, I've never really been into mermaids. Especially the typical portrayal we get in cartoons of pretty, empty-headed things that just giggle and flirt with men. What does interest me is the various portrayals of merfolk in folktales. And that's what Claybourne is looking at here. We have friendly, aggressive, and indifferent creatures. Single gender or fully cultured. Even some proto-merfolk like selkies. Each legend gets just a couple of paragraphs but that's enough to see both how the idea of mermaids is cross-cultural and how other cultural elements influence the nature of the legend. This is a great book for any kid with an interest in folk creatures.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

I WANT TO HOLD THIS BOOK IN MY HANDS.

Normally, I'm fine with (and prefer!) digital editions for a variety of reasons. But I want to physically own this book. It looks like it should be over-sized and that heavy, textured paper, and smell like a new book.

I'm a mermaid enthusiast, but I hadn't heard of so many of these! I know it's a children's book, but I loved the little snippets of information on each type and that they were divided by region, and usually included a bit of the history. The little bonus sections--mermaid houses, mermaid magic, etc.--were an extra bit of fun.

And the illustrations are GORGEOUS. The style is child-friendly, yet also elegantly beautiful. And the artist made the scary mermaids creepy, but not terrifying for children.

I'll definitely be ordering myself a copy of this! I know I'll be flipping through it frequently!

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is a fantastic book for anyone who's a fan of mermaids and would make a fantastic gift.

This book gives you detailed information about mermaids from every corner of the globe and tells historical stories ( in condensed form) about some of the more famously known mermaids. There are mermen mentioned in this book too.

The illustrations are lovely and very befitting to each mermaid/merman mentioned.

This adorable book is something I’ve been looking for for years! Mermaids are my favorite mythological creature, reading this book made them feel more real.
I think we all have ideas about mermaids and what they are, but culturally they are very diverse.
I learned so much about all the different kinds of mermaids from all over the world, and the varied stories that go with them.

Great illustrations, plenty of kids will love this book!
4 stars

**ARC provided by Lawrence King Publishing LTD. via NetGalley

I requested this book because my daughter is obsessed with mermaids, and I thought I'd check this out. I found it an interesting compendium of mermaid tales from around the world, including a history of mermaid sightings in history and stories of faked mermaids. I am not sure about the art - the style didn't work for me on my computer, but it *might* look better in a book. It was really hard for me to tell. It wasn't bad, but it looked a little ... undetailed, but that might present better on paper. I also wish there was some sort of back matter or "for further reading" at the end. For what it is, it was enjoyable, but I tend to expect more.

Are you or someone you know obsessed with mermaids? This book will teach things that most of us would never have thought of asking yet will enjoy knowing. Do you or someone you know love to hear stories of far away places and adventures? This book takes the reader to the continents of North and South American, Oceania, Africa, Europe, Asia and to more than 35 different countries. While there are some similarities in the stories there are many variations. Tales from Northern Spain tell of the Lamia, who have duck like feet. If given a present that is to their liking they might finish a task for the giver while they sleep. In Japanese folklore it is said that if one eats the flesh of the Ningyo, a human fish, they will live forever. However if one is caught fishermen will through them back to avoid misfortune. In addition to tales of mermaids from across the world this book has a 2 page spread about Mermaid homes and others about the history of mermaids, the magic of Mermaids, sightings and creatures that have been mistaken for mermaids.
I recommend this 48 page book, with illustrations on every page, for elementary aged students who would like to learn more about mermaids across the world. It would be great as a stand alone book or as a jump off point for further research.
#TheMermaidAtlas #NetGalley It will be available on June 2, 2020

I love mermaids and have been enjoying some mermaid books lately so when I saw this one I knew that I had to read. And even, though, I knew it was interesting it was actually a lot more interesting than I had ever thought it would be and well put together.

This book dives into depth the exploration of mermaids by first explaining what a mermaid is and then exploring continent by continent the different types of waterways that mermaids of that continent would be able to call it home. On each continental introduction page spread it shows a beautiful rendering of a continental map and showcases some of the types of mermaids that can be found there.

The following pages explore the different types of merpeople, how they were thought to live and influence the human world as well as from what country they were from. Then after all the continent's types were explored the ending spread of the section would explore another merfolk-wide topic such as the basis of merfolks, misconceptions or hoaxes and plenty more.

The illustrations were a bit on the strange side as there were some parts that were quite beautiful, impressive and definitely all of it was quite detailed. But other parts, normally the more dangerous or spooky merfolk, were portrayed in a bad way. Furthermore even, though, I did really enjoy the book I dropped it by a star since one of the Arctic maps had penguins, which don't live there although I guess you may be able to pass them off as auks.

All in all it was a great book and one that mermaid fans will most definitely love to get their hands on. And it will most definitely be a quick read for others who are just looking for a break.

***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

Really wonderful illustrations!! It's well laid out, and the story flows nicely whether it's a single page spread or the little stories across both pages. The stories themselves are really well balanced between a non-fiction and fairytale vibe. I knew about some of these stories but there were a lot I didn't -- I had a really great time reading and learning about more mermaids! I also really like that instead of focusing on just one area, the book moved around the planet (and even space which is awesome). The informational pages were nice dividers, giving readers a break between some of the areas. It was good to have a bookend to the sections.

I absolutely love this book and it would be a great addition for my classroom collection. Beautiful illustrations and very informative, loved it!

This book is absolutely amazing, it is beautiful and packed with fabulous myths and legends about mermaids. To encourage mermaid obsessed children to read this is perfect, my son loved it as well as the stories were interesting,
I highly recommend and will be ordering copies for both school and library.

Mermaids are seducting creatures, with heavenly voice that mirrors that of an angel, who enchant humans; or they’re terrible, gruesome creatures who terrify them. Divergence in the accounts of their appearance aside, it’s undeniable they’re part of the world’s culture and history. To quote the book itself, “Wherever there’s water, there are stories”.

This little atlas gathers those stories, legends and folklore of merfolk from all corners of the world. They’re divided by region: Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America and South America. There’s also little sections about ancient mermaids, sightings, mermaid magic and more.

This is not just an archive on mermaids though, it contains sirens, selkies, water spirits and deities. They’re women turned fish, they’re sea royalty, masters of waves and storms, protectors and guardians, warm-hearted beings who help locals or vengeful and a threat to anyone who crosses their path. They can be found in palaces deep in the ocean, or watery caves or sunken abandoned ships, or even on land when they shapeshift from their form with scales to one with two human legs.

It’s obvious it took a lot of research to write this book even though it’s extremely short. I feel like they tried their best to be respectful and include varying cultures. I was so happy to see Yemọjá, the Mother of Orishas from Yoruba religion, mentioned! I grew up in Umbanda, a Brazilian religion heavily inspired by Yoruba, and Iemanjá, as we call her here, has always been an important presence in my life. It was only fair the Orisha of all body of waters had her place amongst these water beings. She is, after all, mother of all.

It’s astonishing that there are so many different tales of half fish, half human creatures. From the ancient greek myth of the Nereids, and the ancient Syrian moon goddess Atargatis whose grief made her fall all the way from the sky into the sea and turn mermaid, the kind fabric-waving mermaids in China to hideous human fish in Japan that turned a girl almost-immortal when she ate them, and mysterious shapeshifting sea-people from Northern Australia that can never be depicted in any form or image.

We have no clue about what creatures lay under the waves. Water has always been a center of mystery for us, and it will be for years and years to come. We might not succeed in our search, but it doesn’t matter. Humanity will continue to explore the oceans and deep waters, and who’s to say what we might find? But one thing is for certain, all these tales show us that the not knowing might be a gift in itself.

My local mermaid legend (Iara) was the last to be mentioned so I finished the reading with a big smile on my face. Though I do believe that should be the general reaction whether your country is Brazil or not. All thanks to the beyond gorgeous illustrations by Miren Asiain Lora that gave the book an unique and warm quality to it. I spent such long a time analysing her detailed and thoughtful art, they’re bewitching as mermaids should be. I highly reccomend this book for all its elements.

Even though Mermaid Atlas is about mythical and folkloric beings, it gave me a newfound love for humanity and storytelling. Is there even a difference between the two? They’re intrinsically connected, there isn’t one without the other. There’s nothing more human than folklore and stories passed from generation to generation. I wonder which long forgotten tales were lost to word of mouth and history. And I hope Mermaid Atlas had its place in the eternization of us.

The Mermaid Atlas is a fascinating encyclopaedia of mermaids and other mythical water creatures from all around the world. So many people picture mermaids as the conventional “Little Mermaid” but there is so much to these magical beings. This book explores each continent in turn as well as focussing on mermaid homes, ancient mermaids, mermaid magic, creatures mistaken for mermaids and mermaid sightings. It is a must-have for any mermaid or folklore lover.

The detailed maps are amazing. It is so interesting to see the different beliefs, sightings and stories from across the globe. Yet, one thing remains the same, mermaids are powerful and deserve respect. From the Arctic to the Caribbean to the South Pacific, mermaids have a mystical strength that can overpower anyone they come across. They may be good-natured or they may be evil but no matter what, they are the rulers of their underwater domains.

This book is an absolute treasure trove of mermaid facts – an enchanting collection of folklore, history and stories of cultural significance. It is perfect for anyone wanting to delve deeper into the oceans of knowledge that await.