Baby mermaid sleeping in a large open shell underwater.

Mermaid On A Mountaintop: From Legend to Fairytale.

Mermaid On A Mountaintop: From Legend to Fairytale.

The journey to writing Mermaid On A Mountaintop began long before the story itself took shape.

In fact, it all started with a song my husband and I wrote in 2000, Mist of My Memory.

n inclusive illustration from Sherri Eri’s children’s book collection featuring a diverse flock of tropical coral fish. The artwork utilizes high-contrast 'candy colors' to support low-vision readers, depicting the fluid motion of the ocean and rhythmic underwater life—a key theme in Sherri Eri’s accessible storytelling.

Inspired by the Legend of the Princess of Mount Ophir (Puteri Gunung Ledang), I originally wrote the lyrics from the Sultan’s perspective, as he pined for his beloved princess.

View from the summit of Mount Ophir

In that legend, the Sultan’s love for the Princess of Mount Ophir was unrequited, and the story ends in his heartbreak. In contrast, Mermaid On A Mountaintop tells the tale of Mermaid and Merprince—who love each other. Their story takes a sad turn at first but ends with a happily-ever-after.

Inclusive children’s book illustration by Sherri Eri featuring a Merprince and Mermaid holding hands. The high-contrast digital art style supports low-vision accessibility, highlighting themes of friendship and underwater adventure from the Picture the Book collection.

Fast forward to the present—when my illustrator shared her desire to create a mermaid-themed picture book, I decided it was time to bring that forgotten song back to life. The chorus mentioned “an uphill climb,” which got me thinking: Mermaid had to be up on a mountain. But how did she get there?

This sparked a reverse-engineering process—and from that, a new fairytale was born.

A tiny baby mermaid is nestled deep within the smooth, pearly-white curve of an oversized open clamshell. Her small, shimmering pink tail is curled tucked inward, and her eyes are closed in a deep sleep. Soft, golden sand surrounds the shell, and tiny bubbles drift upward through the calm, blue water like quiet lullabies.

Once the story was complete, I wove new elements from the tale into the lyrics, like Merprince hearing Mermaid’s song:

"Out of the blue, I heard your song / So I soon came along."

Digital illustration of a Merprince swimming, featuring high-contrast colors for low-vision accessibility. An inclusive character from the Sherri Eri "Picture the Book" series depicting underwater movement.

And the wedding scene:

"Twirl, whirl, around and around / To the music of the deep, blue sea / A ring of gold and you’re a sight to behold / Would you care to swim with me?"

Inclusive children’s book art by Sherri Eri showing a Mermaid and Merprince twirling. The illustration uses bold, high-contrast colors to aid low-vision accessibility, capturing a rhythmic underwater dance for the Picture the Book series.

It became an interplay—lyrics inspiring the story, and the story feeding back into the lyrics.

Album cover art for "Mist of My Memory" by Sherri Eri. Inclusive digital illustration with high-contrast marine life, a pink dolphin, and a sea turtle. Features a Mermaid and Merprince with a baby mermaid in a shell, designed for low-vision accessibility and rhythmic storytelling.

I’m truly grateful to my illustrator for her gorgeous artwork, to Huzzy, who narrated the story, to Jibs and Natasha, who sang Mist of My Memory, and to Rush, who has been financier, layout designer, webmaster, composer, arranger, musician, producer, mix engineer, and so much more.

Without this wonderful bunch, I wouldn’t have a single picture book out, let alone an audiobook.

Inclusive children’s illustration by Sherri Eri featuring a baby mermaid sleeping among colorful coral. High-contrast imagery including a pink dolphin, green sea turtle, and baby seahorse, designed for low-vision accessibility and visual storytelling.

 

The journey from song to picture book, ebook, and audio/video book has been nothing short of a dream come true for me.

And now, to celebrate the release of the Mermaid On A Mountaintop audiobook, I’m excited to introduce … Story-Oke! It’s karaoke for storytelling. Your kids will have a blast narrating over the minus one track, complete with music and sound effects. 

Get this Story-Oke track as my gift to you when you SIGN UP for my newsletter! 🎤

Sherri Eri is a Singapore-based children’s author and founder of Picture the Book. She writes inclusive picture books and audiobooks shaped by rhythm and carefully chosen words — so children can follow the story even if they can’t see the illustrations.

 

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