Nen and the Lonely Fisherman

Product Information

A modern adaptation of a classic ‘littlemermaid’ tale, Nen and the Lonely Fishermantells the story of a merman’s search for truelove, sending a song of hope across the sea while a lonely, caring young fisherman namedErnest hopes to find warmth in his heart. As the two meet, they feel a special connection,much to the dismay of Nen’s father Pelagioswho creates a wild sea storm to protect hisson and the ocean. Can Nen save Ernest? I hope you find so much joy, wonder and magic in our little book. That it helps you to imagine and dream and know that everyone deserves a happily ever after.

What do you make of the conversation about younger children not being aware of LGBTQ+ topics, or being “shielded” from them? My next project is a Shakespeare-themed picture book called Violet’s Tempest. It’s a story about a girl who has lost her giggle and sense of happiness. She is given the part of Ariel in a school play and wonders how she will ever play such a mischievous character when she feels so low and nervous.Hopeful’, ‘kind,’ ‘lovely’ and ‘beautiful’ are just a few of the words used by my current class to sum up Nen and the Lonely Fisherman by Ian Eagleton, illustrated by James Mayhew and published by Owlet Press.

For us, we were very aware that we wanted to show Nen and Ernest’s relationship in a tender, loving way but were nervous about depicting things like them holding hands. Our main concern was really how adults would react to this – all the children who have read our book have adored seeing a happy ending between two men. This isn’t just a book with one story. There’s historical stories and a wish for a different story, a future of hope, all rolled into one. In James’ blog post he talks about the suggestion from some that Nen and the Lonely Fisherman should come with an advisory label for LGBTQ+ content.Children at every age have a right to see same-sex couples represented in their books in an age-appropriate, positive and celebratory way. Today we welcome Clare Campbell, the headteacher at St Charles RC Primary School, to talk about how she has been using NEN AND THE LONELY FISHERMAN in her school! While providing music cover to a number of classes I have made use of Nen and the Lonely Fisherman to provide opportunities for pupils to work in groups to create soundscapes that reflected different scenes in the book, drawing on the emotions of the characters and the clues in James captivating illustrations.

I’d also recommend getting in touch with A New Chapter, which is a new online bookshop. They are able to curate sets of books for you relating to the themes you are exploring with your class and are very reasonable. As always, we love to have a few props to bring stories even more to life. There are lots of creative activities you could enjoy to go alongside this story too: The collaboration between Ian Eagleton and James Mayhew in Nen and the Lonely Fisherman is the perfect blend of magic. On the surface this is a delightful, hope filled twist on the classic story ‘The Little Mermaid’ yet it’s so much more that that. To truly begin to understand the gravity, strength and bravery of this book I’d very much recommend reading this blog post from illustrator James Mayhew and this post from author Ian Eagleton. Synopsis Thereafter, where might their secretive laughter, talking and dreaming lead? Is it possible that Nan’s father’s rage at his son might damage everything that Nen and the Lonely Fisherman are building? His power is infinite, it seems… Or might it be that Ernest, is somehow different and Nen will do anything to rescue his fisherman? There are two very special illustrations in the book. One is of Nen and Ernest staring lovingly into each other’s eyes after a terrible storm. We felt this special moment really deserved a close-up of their faces to capture the love between them.

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Every so often a book comes along that makes you go – wow. Nen and the Lonely Fisherman is one of these books. If you haven’t already discovered the independent publisher Owlet Press they are certainly one to watch, some truly incredible books already published and more to come.