Mermaid Books 7 – The Mermaid and the Red Candle

I completely forgot about this children's picture book title in my mermaid book collection. Someone gave me a copy when I was about nine or ten. I don't know whether it was new or secondhand but it is still in pretty good condition now. The book in question is called The Mermaid and the Red Candle. The author is Jane Carruth. The artist is Konosuke Iwamoto. It was published in 1968 by Paul Hamlyn. It's a story about an elderly couple who find and adopt a mermaid baby. She brings blessings and riches to their candle making business. It's also a sad story of greed and exploitation. It is beautifully written and poignant, and the illustrations are lovely. It's out of print now but we found that Amazon has contacts to sellers who have used copies. We advise you to track them down quickly before they sell out.