Person Information and Background of Ian Beck.

Full Name: Ian Beck

Birth place: Hove, Sussex.

Birth date: 1947

Nationality: Brittish

Places lived: Sussex, Currently South West London.

Occupations held:Illustrator and Author, worked part time for a toy company

Education: Attended Brighton Colledge of Art on a Saturday morning before becoming a full time student in 1963 studying illustration and graphic design.

Synopsis.

• Opening scene describes the daughters of the Sea King and simply states that the youngest likes to hear stories of the world of the humans.
• On her first trip to the ocean she can see the ship and falls in love with Prince Casper.
• A storm suddenly appears and Prince Casper falls into the ocean and the little Mermaid rescues him and kisses his lips in order to blow air into his lungs.
• She leaves the Prince on the shore to recover and hides in the foam of the water in order to ensure his safety.
• Once the Prince has been found by several other humans the mermaid dives back into the water, and returns to her father's kingdom.
• It is now that she realises she loves him as she can not think of anything else. She goes to the SeaWitch in order to get human legs.
• The SeaWitch trades the mermaid her voice for human legs, and tells the mermaid that every time she takes a step there will be a pain like a knife is cutting her legs every time she takes a step. The mermaid takes the potion and ventures onto the sand.
• Two young girls see her and believe she has been shipwrecked and take her to the Prince's palace.
• The prince is struck by her beauty and feels that he has seen the girl before but only in a distant dream.
• The prince feels he loves the mermaid but has to marry a princess from another nation so the two nations can be joined. He must travel to a distant country by boat to visit the princess.
• While on the cruise, the Little Mermaid notices her sisters at the surface of the water and can see that they have cut off all their hair.
• The sisters inform the Little Mermaid that the SeaWitch has given them a dagger in exchange for their hair. In order to win the prince back she must kill the bride.
• When the Mermaid goes to kill the bride she can not do it as she feels it's unfair to kill the innocent princess for her own selfish happiness, and with that she throws the dagger into the water, and plunges herself in after it with the expectation she will drown with her human legs.
• Slowly, she realises her mermaid tail has been returned to her.
• The Little Mermaid then discovers that the spell has been broken due to the fact she has done the right thing and she lives as a mermaid happily ever after, often thinking of the prince.

Analysis.

• The book is pedagogical as it teaches children that if you do the right thing, good things will happen. This is evident at the conclusion of the text when the Little Mermaid is unselfish and because of that her life has been saved.
• The illustrations by Ian Beck are very much relied upon in reading the story as the text is very simple, and straight to the point. The illustrations are clearly dominant in telling the story.
• The color contrasts of the book are interesting. The yellows, oranges, and reds are all used to represent the life on land and the human race. In contrast to this, everything that represents life under the sea are painted in blues and greens. However, to represent the mermaid's desire for life on land, her hair color matches the life on land as it is constantly painted in a sandy yellow color.

Strengths/Weaknesses.

• Good for youger readers as they can interpret the story without reading the text as the illustrations tend to tell the stroy.
• Adults would think it worthwhile to purchase the book as the text is pedagogical.
• The illustrations are intriguing and brings the book to life which engages readers.
• Often many symbols represented throughout the text which makes the book more interesting to read.
• The story follows the original text by Andersen but includes it's own conclusion.