"The Mermaid Queen" is a historical fiction book about a woman by the name of Annette Kellerman who swam, and became famous for inventing "water ballet", revolutionizing women's swimsuit apparel, as well as becoming a champion swimmer.
The story starts out with a young girl from Australia named Annette who was a fragile and weak girl because of a disease (rickets?) that made it hard for her to walk. Annette and her father began swimming together, and Annette became stronger and healthier. Eventually Annette started setting swimming records because she had become such a great athlete and swimmer. At the time Annette was swimming, it was not acceptable for women to show bare skin, so in Britain at one of her shows, Annette took a man's (horse) racing uniform and wore that, and then sewed on stockings so that her legs weren't showing. At this time in America, women were wearing full dresses, bonnets, stockings and shoes into the water at the beach that made it almost impossible to swim. When Annette showed up she wore her race outfit that bared more skin than any women had ever dared to try. She was arrested, and had to go to court. But she defended herself by saying that she wore that outfit so that she could swim freely and exercise for her health. The judge ruled in her favor and from then on women started buying and wearing these types of swimsuits. To this day, you can see how Annette Kellerman has changed our swimsuit fashion in America and all over the world. It is amazing to see how much we have downsized the material that we use for our swimsuits today....
This is a fun story that has bright and colorful illustrations that cover all of the pages. The text is written in different ways, some wrap around the text, other text is made bigger to emphasize some of the actions that Annette is doing such as "SPLASH!" Not only is this book based on a true story, it also connects to the audience now. Young kids can think about how much they love to swim and wear bathing suits in the summer, and they can relate to this Annette character who had a hard time even participating in some swimming competitions. I am a girl, and I am into fashion, but it also is interesting just to learn about the history of the swimsuit and how it has transformed into what it is today. I am glad we aren't still wearing dresses and bonnets, and leggings in the water.....but sometimes I think maybe our itty bitty bikini's can be a little too much. What do you think? What would your kids have to say? I really enjoyed this book, and think it is a fun historical book that you could read with your class.
The story starts out with a young girl from Australia named Annette who was a fragile and weak girl because of a disease (rickets?) that made it hard for her to walk. Annette and her father began swimming together, and Annette became stronger and healthier. Eventually Annette started setting swimming records because she had become such a great athlete and swimmer. At the time Annette was swimming, it was not acceptable for women to show bare skin, so in Britain at one of her shows, Annette took a man's (horse) racing uniform and wore that, and then sewed on stockings so that her legs weren't showing. At this time in America, women were wearing full dresses, bonnets, stockings and shoes into the water at the beach that made it almost impossible to swim. When Annette showed up she wore her race outfit that bared more skin than any women had ever dared to try. She was arrested, and had to go to court. But she defended herself by saying that she wore that outfit so that she could swim freely and exercise for her health. The judge ruled in her favor and from then on women started buying and wearing these types of swimsuits. To this day, you can see how Annette Kellerman has changed our swimsuit fashion in America and all over the world. It is amazing to see how much we have downsized the material that we use for our swimsuits today....
This is a fun story that has bright and colorful illustrations that cover all of the pages. The text is written in different ways, some wrap around the text, other text is made bigger to emphasize some of the actions that Annette is doing such as "SPLASH!" Not only is this book based on a true story, it also connects to the audience now. Young kids can think about how much they love to swim and wear bathing suits in the summer, and they can relate to this Annette character who had a hard time even participating in some swimming competitions. I am a girl, and I am into fashion, but it also is interesting just to learn about the history of the swimsuit and how it has transformed into what it is today. I am glad we aren't still wearing dresses and bonnets, and leggings in the water.....but sometimes I think maybe our itty bitty bikini's can be a little too much. What do you think? What would your kids have to say? I really enjoyed this book, and think it is a fun historical book that you could read with your class.
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