Princess Fishtail

by Frances Minters

Princess Fishtail really digs her life beneath the water-living in a crystal palace, jumping rope with dolphins, and chatting with tuna on her cell phone. But one day when she rescues a handsome surfer, the mer-princess realizes she's been hooked-by love. The princess decides to spend the rest of her life on land with her true love, but one day she gets homesick for her old pals under the sea. Will a rotten old troll stand in true love's way, or can a mermaid princess, a surfer, and some sewing lessons show the way to living happily ever after?

"This ultracool version of the fairy tale ...updates the classic with singular flair." (Publishers Weekly on Cinder-Elly)

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2002

Reviews

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another clever and very fun fairy retelling that gives the princess an active voice and an active choice in her life. Princess Fishtail CAN have the handsome surfer prince AND her family AND keep her voice!

[Rommel Sison · Rating 2 out of 5]

6-year-old daughter: 5 stars
5-year-old daughter: 2 stars

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first fairy tale review book:

This is such an adorable picture book! The story is about Princess Fishtail who lives with her father and wants to go on land to live with the humans. So, she spots a surfer named Burt and saves him after he wipes out on a wave. A deal is made with the sea troll to trade her fishtail for human legs. She gladly agrees and love experiencing Hollywood with the shopping (she can now buy shoes), food, and all that human life has to offer. She does miss her family and the ocean, so Burt surprises her with a scuba suit and diving lessons so she can go visit her family whenever she wants.

The pictures are bold and have that beachy feel to it. The pictures appear to be done in colored pencil and with that have a streaky overtone over the illustrations. I would definitely read this story as part of a fairy tale unit and let students talk about how the versions are different, how they're the same, and the central theme to the stories. Although they might be different in minor details, the big picture plot is the same.

[Shannon Janik · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Princess Fishtail” written by Frances Minters is a cute modern spin off of The Little Mermaid. Highness the mermaid in this story gives up her tail to live on shore with her newfound love Burt. However, Highness soon realizes how much she misses her family and friends. But when Highness tries to get back her tail from the evil troll he says she must give him her voice in order to have her tail back. The mermaid declines his deal and makes her own way to see her family and have Burt too. This story was so cute and clever. There was little word blurbs on each page that had commentary from all the animals that were watching the story happen. The whole story was comical and the pictures were very well done.

[Jessica Vopat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my daughters favorite library books for several years. The cover art is so eye catching she ran to it right away. The story is detailed with larger words and is great for a learning reader. There is a bit of a rhyme for letter blend recognition and my daughter was reading this book on her own very quickly

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lola brought home a Disney princess book with the Ariel Little Mermaid story that I had to read a blue million times. I like this one so much better!

[Domini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for girls

[Leyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me the chance to make reading comprehension questions.

[Deja Bertucci]

Updating the story of The Little Mermaid.