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juliemawesome's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't like this one as well as the wizard and pirate ones I just read. Mermaids like to make themselves look beautiful and throw parties. And, um, well, that's it. The book is quite repetitive. And when the author ran out of things to say, she tossed in a bit about sailors and sea monsters.
Some of the things she made up had me going 'what?' Mermaids surf the Net and use shell phones. Yea, that's got a long history in folklore, that does.
It's also very gendered. Mermen get a brief mention, as nearly an entire species unto their own. While the mermaids want to look beautiful, the mermen look fierce and thrust tridents at pirates to scare them off.
Mermaid babies are born out of eggs. (Don't ask me how they get fertilized. Maybe all that trident thrusting has something to do with it.) And then they're nursemaided by seahorses. (No mention of what gender those seahorses are.)
So, yea, this was a very weak book. And disappointing compared to the other books.
Some of the things she made up had me going 'what?' Mermaids surf the Net and use shell phones. Yea, that's got a long history in folklore, that does.
It's also very gendered. Mermen get a brief mention, as nearly an entire species unto their own. While the mermaids want to look beautiful, the mermen look fierce and thrust tridents at pirates to scare them off.
Mermaid babies are born out of eggs. (Don't ask me how they get fertilized. Maybe all that trident thrusting has something to do with it.) And then they're nursemaided by seahorses. (No mention of what gender those seahorses are.)
So, yea, this was a very weak book. And disappointing compared to the other books.
juliemawesome's review against another edition
2.0
Eh. Knights are brave and go on quests and stuff. I'm not sure what else I would've added to the book, but I know I wouldn't have suggested that knights ride motorcycles and fast cars. It's one thing to tweak the legendary concept of a knight so a kid can pretend to be one. It's another thing to contemporize it to no point. Is a kid going to be getting into her fast car?
Girls are relegated to damsels in distress in this book, apart from a mention that they don't usually need rescuing nowadays and that a female knight gets called Dame.
The author and illustrator in each book have given themselves names to fit the genre. A wizardly name in the Wizard book, a fairy name in the fairy book. Well, in this one, they eschew being knights altogether! They're ladies, and damsels in distress. They're not even Dames!
The author and illustrator can't picture themselves as knights, so I guess girls aren't expected to do so either. Is it any wonder some of us flock to Princess Knight (Ribon no Kishi) and Utena? Siiigh.
As for famous knights mentioned... only Lancelot got mentioned by name, and that's in the middle of a blurb about King Arthur's knights in general. No other knights existed? Ever? Not in reality or in fiction? Bah!
Girls are relegated to damsels in distress in this book, apart from a mention that they don't usually need rescuing nowadays and that a female knight gets called Dame.
The author and illustrator in each book have given themselves names to fit the genre. A wizardly name in the Wizard book, a fairy name in the fairy book. Well, in this one, they eschew being knights altogether! They're ladies, and damsels in distress. They're not even Dames!
The author and illustrator can't picture themselves as knights, so I guess girls aren't expected to do so either. Is it any wonder some of us flock to Princess Knight (Ribon no Kishi) and Utena? Siiigh.
As for famous knights mentioned... only Lancelot got mentioned by name, and that's in the middle of a blurb about King Arthur's knights in general. No other knights existed? Ever? Not in reality or in fiction? Bah!