*Includes "The Little Mermaid," now a major motion picture from Disney starring Halle Bailey and directed by Rob Marshall*

Dive into centuries of mermaid lore with these captivating tales from around the world.

A Penguin Classic

Among the oldest and most popular mythical beings, mermaids and other merfolk have captured the imagination since long before Ariel sold her voice to a sea witch in the beloved Disney film adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid." As far back as the eighth century B.C., sailors in Homer's Odyssey stuffed wax in their ears to resist the Sirens, who lured men to their watery deaths with song. More than two thousand years later, the gullible New York public lined up to witness a mummified "mermaid" specimen that the enterprising showman P. T. Barnum swore was real.

The Penguin Book of Mermaids is a treasury of such tales about merfolk and water spirits from different cultures, ranging from Scottish selkies to Hindu water-serpents to Chilean sea fairies. A third of the selections are published here in English for the first time, and all are accompanied by commentary that explores their undercurrents, showing us how public perceptions of this popular mythical hybrid--at once a human and a fish--illuminate issues of gender, spirituality, ecology, and sexuality.

For more than seventy-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 2,000 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

• We started tracking this book on March 9, 2019.
• This book was $12.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 68 times in the past 2,334 days.
• The current price of this book is $4.99 last checked 3 hours ago.
• The lowest price to date was $4.99 last reached on July 27, 2025.
• This book has been $4.99 5 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $14.99 last reached on March 4, 2024.
• This book has been $14.99 6 times since we started tracking it.
• This book is currently at its lowest price since we started tracking it.

• Literature & FictionMythology & Folk TalesFolklore

• Publication Date: October 8, 2019
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 362 Pages
• File Size: 206 KB