The Middle East & North Africa
Israel
The Mermaid in the Bathtub
By Nurit Zarchi, Tal Goldfajn (Translator), Rutu Modan (Illustrator)
The Mermaid in the Bathtub. Nurit Zarchi. Translated by Tal Goldfajn. Illustrated by Rutu Modan. Yonder: Restless Books for Young Readers, 2019. Originally published as Ambatyam in Hebrew by Am Oved, in Tel Aviv, in 2001. ISBN 9781632062116. 40 p. (Ages 5-10). Picture book.
This modernist riff on “The Little Mermaid” begins, “The day Mr. Whatwilltheysay found a mermaid sitting in his best armchair, he ran out of his apartment and wandered the streets until evening.” And so it goes… the fastidious protagonist avoids the mermaid, Grain-of-Sand, and the increasingly watery chaos in his apartment. But when she leaves, he is desperate to find her again. The comics-style illustrations by acclaimed graphic novelist Rutu Modan are full of clever details. When the couple is reunited it is on Grain-of-Sand’s terms – happily ensconced in Mr. Whatwilltheysay’s bathtub-cum-boat, on the open sea under a yellow pancake moon. [ayg]