Michael Hague's Favourite Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales

by Michael Hague (Illustrator)

Perfect for gift-giving--a classic illustrated by Michael Hague, in a beautifully redesigned edition.

Hans Christian Andersen was one of the greatest storytellers of all time. Michael Hague has chosen nine of Andersen's best-loved fairy tales to illustrate in his unique style.

Genres: Childrens, Classics, Fantasy, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Picture Books, 20th Century

168 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1981

About the author

Michael Hague is renowned as the illustrator of many children's classics, including editions of The Wizard Of Oz, Peter Pan, The Hobbit, and The Velveteen Rabbit. He also illustrated The Book of Ghosts, Where Fairies Dance, The Book of Wizards, and The Book of Fairy Poetry as well as wrote and illustrated the graphic novel in The Small. Michael lives with his wife, Kathleen, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Reviews

[Elise]

As a child, I didn't like H.C. Anderson's fairy tales as much as the Grimm Brothers, partly because of the slightly creepy illustrations in the version we had.
I wanted to re-read The Snow Queen after seeing a reference to it, and picked up this collection from the library.
As an adult, I can appreciate some of the more subtle lessons in his work.

Most of his stories have an element of melancholy, especially The Little Match Girl, or the not so happy ending of The Little Mermaid, where she doesn't win the prince's love. Even in Thumbelina, she nearly dies in the cold before taking shelter with a field mouse, who then tries to pressure Thumblina to marry the mole.
In the Snow Queen, the young girl's search for her friend who had been lured by the queen often reminds me of trying to reclaim the love of someone in the throes of addiction.
The Ugly Duckling is a very clear description of bullying behavior.

[SuperReader]

These fairytales are very interesting at times. At other times, they can be a little weird and the story doesn't flow very well. My favorite was Little Ida's Flowers. I liked it both the magical story and the illustrations.

[Anne]

More references to God and religion than I remember from HCA’s fairy tales…?

[Elaine Duree]

I am still waiting for my children to grow a little more. These stories are a little long for them now. But I can not wait to share these tales with them. such great lessons of life in Hans imagination. He was amazing to push threw and continue to write all his stories down.

[Morgen]

One of my favorite things about this particular collection is the beautiful illustrations. Sometimes I would stop in the middle of the story to pore over the pictures--they were so real I imagined the whole story unfolding in a single page.

[Terri Lynn]

More fine art and storytelling from the best children's artist there is- Michael Hague. Stories include:

The Snow Queen
The Wild Swans
Thumbelina
The Elfin Hill
Little Ida's Flowers
The Emperor's New Clothes
The Little Match Girl
The Ugly Duckling
The Little Mermaid

[Theresa]

a great collection of pictures and prose

[Rachel C]

These are classics appropriate for elementary age.