I person been a instrumentality of The Little Mermaid since my aboriginal puerility days of demanding rewatches of our well-loved VHS cassette portion of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. The communicative has ever snagged my interest. I emotion Ariel’s character, a mermaid who struggles with navigating her household relationships portion staying existent to herself. Ariel’s fiery curiosity astir the quality satellite and thirst for adventures extracurricular of the bubble she lives wrong are truthful compelling and relatable. Plus, I person ever been a sucker for a saccharine romance, particularly a phantasy romance involving curses to interruption and swoony royals to meet. From the infinitesimal I heard astir Disney’s live enactment remake of The Little Mermaid premiering this year, I’ve been counting down the days until I tin watch. Announcements astir the unthinkable formed for the movie, including Halle Bailey arsenic Ariel, person further ignited my excitement.
To observe the premiere of the new Little Mermaid movie, I’ve gathered unneurotic a database of mediate people and YA books similar The Little Mermaid. Amongst the titles, you’ll find stories centering mermaids, selkies, sirens, and more. Which 1 are you going to work earlier watching the movie?
9 Books Like The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid: Against the Tide by J. Elle
If you’re idiosyncratic who has to work the publication earlier seeing the movie (this is me), I highly urge checking retired J. Elle’s adaptation of The Little Mermaid inspired by the caller movie. This communicative promises a compelling Black pistillate lead, poignant sibling dynamics, and intriguing quality and crippled improvement wrong the satellite of The Little Mermaid. Timing-wise, the crippled takes spot earlier the events of the movie. Having turned 15, Ariel volition soon go a Protector of her ain water territory. Her sisters program to instrumentality location for the ceremony, but everything changes erstwhile Ariel’s sister Mala gets abducted.
Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
Fans of The Little Mermaid are definite to autumn successful emotion with this spellbinding Black mermaid communicative by Natasha Bowen. Simi is simply a mermaid who serves the gods by collecting the souls of radical who dice astatine oversea and blessing their journeys homeward. Like Ariel, Simi makes a disturbance erstwhile she rescues a lad from a shipwreck. To support her chap mermaids, oregon Mami Wata, Simi volition question retired the Supreme Creator.
Midnight Pearls: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid by Debbie Viguié
Starting successful precocious school, I went done a fairy communicative retellings signifier that I person not near since. Each publication successful the Once Upon a Time bid retells a antithetic fairy tale, and I devoured them all. In Debbie Viguié’s enchanting saltation of The Little Mermaid, we conscionable a mysterious miss who has grown up connected the onshore alternatively than successful the sea. Having been rescued by a fisherman arsenic a child, Pearl has ever felt similar an outsider successful her village. While she finds comfortableness successful her relationship with Prince James, secrets from her past whitethorn enactment everything astatine risk.
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The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
This poignant and heartfelt graphic caller by Trung Le Nguyen features a mates of fairy tales, including The Little Mermaid. As with The Little Mermaid, themes surrounding household dynamics, coming-of-age, and individuality play a cardinal relation successful the communicative arsenic well. Tiến is the lad of Vietnamese immigrants, and portion helium loves his family, he’s unsure of however to archer them he’s gay. Tiến and his parent enslaved implicit fairy tales, and these magical stories whitethorn beryllium conscionable what helium needs to find the close words.
Ponyo, Volume 1 by Hayao Miyazaki
A Little Mermaid-inspired speechmaking database can’t beryllium implicit without mentioning this beloved adaptation of the communicative by Hayao Miyazaki. This colorful manga brings Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo movie to leafage and breathes caller beingness into the saccharine story. Ready to flight her stifling beingness astatine location nether the sea, a small food named Ponyo swims distant to enactment wherever she’s rescued from a solid jar by a lad named Sosuke. On land, Ponyo tin alteration into a human, but erstwhile it causes a disturbance successful the equilibrium of nature, Ponyo and Sosuke volition acceptable disconnected connected an epic escapade to acceptable things right!
The Girl From the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag
Along with mermaid tales, selkie stories besides committedness akin vibes to The Little Mermaid. In Molly Knox Ostertag’s touching and atmospheric graphic novel, readers question to an land on the seashore of Nova Scotia wherever closeted teen lesbian Morgan yearns to escape. However, Morgan’s full satellite shifts the nighttime she’s rescued from drowning by a mysterious miss named Keltie.
The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley
Speaking of selkies, this under-the-radar phantasy by Franny Billingsley is simply a long-time favourite of mine. This 1 is delightfully eerie arsenic it involves chilling creatures known arsenic the Folk. Corinna Stonewall is simply a Folk Keeper, talented with antithetic abilities that let her to support the Folk astatine bay from people’s homes. When Lord Merton invites her to his seaside estate, Corinna volition uncover secrets astir her past, similar wherefore her hairsbreadth grows 2 inches each nighttime and wherefore the oversea seems to telephone to her.
Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton (Expected Publication: June 27, 2023)
Like selkies, sirens are different oversea carnal reminiscent of mermaids and cleanable for fans of The Little Mermaid. This caller publication by Gabi Burton weaves unneurotic a fig of tantalizing threads, including a badass Black siren heroine, forbidden romance, grumpy/sunshine dynamics, and gripping execution enigma subplots. Saoirse Sorkova navigates a web of lies arsenic she keeps her siren individuality concealed portion grooming to go a soldier, moonlights arsenic an assassin, and lies to her household astir the level of power she has implicit her siren powers. When her sister gets threatened by a blackmailer, Saoirse decides to go a bodyguard for the prince and begins digging for answers.
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
While this publication by Elizabeth Lim retells different 1 of my favourite fairy tales, The Six Swans, it involves elements that consciousness reminiscent of The Little Mermaid. Like Ariel, Shiori gets trapped successful a curse that forces her to stay soundless and not usage her voice. Lim blends East Asian mythology with The Six Swans storyline to make a genuinely archetypal and magical tale. When Princess Shiori’s brothers are cursed into becoming six cranes, Shiori volition spell to immoderate magnitude indispensable to prevention them.
More Books to Submerge In…
The Little Mermaid is specified a captivating tale, and 1 tin ne'er person excessively galore mermaid books connected their shelves. This summer, I anticipation you bask submerging into the enchanting worlds of these books similar The Little Mermaid! For much epic reads, I’ve gathered unneurotic a fewer mermaid publication lists below.