Merrymaid of Zennor, The

This haunting and beautiful picture book is a collaboration between Causley, the award-winning Cornish poet and Foreman, the renowned illustrator. It retells a traditional Cornish folktale set in the clifftop village of Zennor in the days when the tin mines were still operating. Tom Taskis, a young tin miner, runs away with a mermaid leaving behind his young friend Zachy who witnesses many magical scenes on the windswept cliffs of Zennor. Causley’s simple poetic language is complemented by Foreman’s distinctive watercolour and pastel illustrations. Words and pictures weave a tale steeped in the Cornish landscape of greens and blues, sea and sky, twilight and mystery. The perfect inter-relationship between text and illustration captures the reader and, in the best tradition of storytelling, tells a simple, magical story which enters your heart and stays there.