We have just read in the Bristol Post this week that a woman left her teaching job to become a professional mermaid! Maids of the sea, sprung from ancient fish gods, reborn from the tragedy of forbidden love, combined with a seductive power of the half-bird sirens who sang to Odysseus, and a warning against temptation in the Middle Ages, today mermaids exist as everything from birthday party entertainment to a reclaimed site of political and particularly feminist power. Throughout history, everything from manatees and sea-cows to skate and seal have been mistaken for beautiful mermaids. Believed to cure asthma and earache, and warn of danger, here is everything you could ever want to know about these mythical creatures and their aquatic lore. From around the seven seas from Latvia and Iran to Haiti and Estonia, here is the mermaid throughout history and the many names they have been known by like kelpie, nix, sylphe, undine and water nymph and how if they traded their fins for life on land their lifespan would shorten dramatically, they would give up their voices and their tails and in return would be granted terrestrial romance or perhaps even a soul. Beautifully decorated coloured pages with over 100 spectacular artworks. 224pp.

The book quite literally opens with a triple gatefold, a beautiful artwork with short text telling an ancient tale where underneath a river lives a beautiful goddess using ancient stylised Chinese depictions, the noble train of horses and porters approached the mountain of Jing. In pale greens for lush grass, the mermaid figure has a green fish-scale back, an alluring goddess. "She's a light as a swallow in flight and as supple as a flying dragon. Her face is even more radiant than the chrysanthemums that bloom in autumn..." Another five page gatefold then unfurls in an exquisite Chinese artwork foldout showing the beautiful goddess decorated with fine jade and gold, she skips as she walks here and there picking flowers and magically plucks out reishi mushrooms. We are told that these were used for medicinal purposes throughout China. There are stylised carp fish with beautifully decorated scales, waterlilies peeping up with eyes at the surface, tendrils of flowers and swirling water. "My heart was filled with love, but at the same time I was afraid of being tricked." This ancient Chinese poem was created by Caoz Zhi in the period 220-280CE. He is returning from the capital to his own land when he stops at the Luo River for a rest where he instantly falls in love with the goddess. He sees a nymph of peerless beauty and is swept away by her ethereal beauty. We follow the dreamlike journey and even more four-page gatefold pullout pages in a truly entrancing tale. There are more gatefolds with six dragons in a procession and whales and the magic continues over all 78 very large colourful pages, 29.2 x 29.4cm. Designed for ages 9-12, this is more likely to be collected by interested adults. There is an explanation of all the mythical creatures at the end such as Nüwa and Bluefish and Yanzi. Colour.