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The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
Story Time
A beautifully illustrated compendium of Andersen's fairy tales
As treasured today as they will undoubtedly be for generations to come, Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales are cornerstones of our collective consciousness as much as of the Western literary canon. From The Ugly Duckling to The Little Mermaid and The Emperor's New Clothes, this beautifully-presented collection shares the eternal magic of these stories with a selection of 8 tales, each illustrated with sparkling vintage artwork from the 1840s to the 1980s.
True to the international appeal of the stories, the featured artists hail from Scandinavia to Japan, and include such greats as Kay Nielsen, Josef Paleček, Tom Seidmann-Freud (niece of Sigmund Freud), and the groundbreaking film animator Lotte Reiniger. The collection also features historic and contemporary silhouettes, a presentation of Andersen's immense legacy, brief historical introductions to each fairy tale, as well as a set of stickers of favorite motifs. A treasure for the whole family, this precious edition inspires and enchants as much as the mystical, magical worlds of Andersen's imagination.
The following fairy tales are featured in the book:
The Princess and the Pea, The Nightingale, The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Brave Tin Soldier, The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling, The Tinderbox.
A beautifully illustrated compendium of Andersen's fairy tales
As treasured today as they will undoubtedly be for generations to come, Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales are cornerstones of our collective consciousness as much as of the Western literary canon. From The Ugly Duckling to The Little Mermaid and The Emperor's New Clothes, this beautifully-presented collection shares the eternal magic of these stories with a selection of 8 tales, each illustrated with sparkling vintage artwork from the 1840s to the 1980s.
True to the international appeal of the stories, the featured artists hail from Scandinavia to Japan, and include such greats as Kay Nielsen, Josef Paleček, Tom Seidmann-Freud (niece of Sigmund Freud), and the groundbreaking film animator Lotte Reiniger. The collection also features historic and contemporary silhouettes, a presentation of Andersen's immense legacy, brief historical introductions to each fairy tale, as well as a set of stickers of favorite motifs. A treasure for the whole family, this precious edition inspires and enchants as much as the mystical, magical worlds of Andersen's imagination.
The following fairy tales are featured in the book:
The Princess and the Pea, The Nightingale, The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Brave Tin Soldier, The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling, The Tinderbox.
191 pages, Hardcover
Published April 26, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 14, 2023
I read this aloud with my 1st grader over a few months.
1. As a collection, it is beautiful. The artwork is from artists across time, and is varied and gorgeous (water color, paper cuts, ink, etc.). It
It even contains short biographies on each artist. There is a short explanation of the story/historical context, etc. before each story, which I appreciated (although my 6yo didn't have the patience for it). It felt like a literature class (in a good way, I assure you) and never failed to make the stories more interesting and meaningful.
2. As a translation, I loved it! I have never really enjoyed Hans Christian Anderson's works much in the past, but this one is miles above others I've read. I didn't realize the translation could make such a difference.
3. As for the stories... They still aren't my favorite, although I mostly enjoyed them, and there were a few by which I was legitimately moved. Regardless, the language is beautiful and the morals are (generally) virtuous, and I truly enjoyed the artwork. If I ever purchase the fairy tales, it would absolutely be this edition.
1. As a collection, it is beautiful. The artwork is from artists across time, and is varied and gorgeous (water color, paper cuts, ink, etc.). It
It even contains short biographies on each artist. There is a short explanation of the story/historical context, etc. before each story, which I appreciated (although my 6yo didn't have the patience for it). It felt like a literature class (in a good way, I assure you) and never failed to make the stories more interesting and meaningful.
2. As a translation, I loved it! I have never really enjoyed Hans Christian Anderson's works much in the past, but this one is miles above others I've read. I didn't realize the translation could make such a difference.
3. As for the stories... They still aren't my favorite, although I mostly enjoyed them, and there were a few by which I was legitimately moved. Regardless, the language is beautiful and the morals are (generally) virtuous, and I truly enjoyed the artwork. If I ever purchase the fairy tales, it would absolutely be this edition.
February 6, 2019
A lovely edition. The illustrations are a mix of contemporary and historical, show casing the living breathing nature of Andersen's tales. The introduction is good, not scholarly, but not light. Think of it more as something written by a scholar for a popular audience. Would be a good collection for a class, or a gift for a bright young person. Also wonderful for the collector of fairy tale collections, which is why I bought it.
January 10, 2019
Las ilustraciones de esta edición son muy lindas y vale la pena tenerlo! Cada cuento es distinto y a diferencia de Disney Andersen es autobiográfico, un poco pesimista y a través de sus cuentos la realidad no es siempre es lo que uno quiere que sea. Mis cuentos preferidos:
-La sirenita
-El soldadito de plomo
-El ruiseñor
-La princesa y el guisante
-La sirenita
-El soldadito de plomo
-El ruiseñor
-La princesa y el guisante
March 21, 2020
Aparte de que la edición es una belleza, cada uno de los cuentos es hermoso, vigente y lleno de significado. Humanos, objetos, animales y plantas comparten conversaciones e historias de apariencia cotidiana pero de mucha profundidad.
November 4, 2024
Schön illustrierte Ausgabe. Extrem deprimierende Märchen. Fünf Sterne.
December 22, 2022
I bought Taschen’s collected volume of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales for the Arthur Rackham illustrations, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is a well-rounded collection. It showcases a selection of 16 tales (a small amount when we’re considering Andersen’s extensive oeuvre), but it spans the range of his literary abilities to include most of his popular tales (“The Little Mermaid,” etc) and others which are less well-known (“The Nightingale”). Each tale is introduced by the editor, who also provides a broad biography of Andersen to start the collection off, which gives discerning readers a glimpse into the social atmosphere and motivations which drove Andersen to explore some of the genre’s most unique and interesting themes in his various writings. The illustrations and overall design of the volume are what makes it stand out, though, in comparison to other fairy tale anthologies. Collected alongside the tales are a range of illustrations which span from Andersen’s contemporaries to the 1980s and feature artists from all types of backgrounds - proving that these simple fairy tales are more than they seem and appeal to a global audience. A few of the illustrators I am very familiar with (Arthur Rackham and Kay Nielsen, particularly), but it was gratifying to see different artists provide new (to me, at least) illustrations to familiar tales. I think Taschen could have easily doubled the volume of this collection, since Andersen’s catalogue provides an almost endless stream of inspiration and there are plenty of other wonderful artists who could have been tapped for imagery (both historical and contemporary)!
December 13, 2021
3 stars for some very strange tales, not as I remember from childhood, rounded up to 4 for the magnificent illustrations in this edition, by artists spanning the world and 2 centuries.
I may add more to this review after my book club's discussion in a few days. But some of these stories are definitely NOT for children, especially The Tinderbox. The version I remember from my childhood must have been a bit sanitized.
And there were definitely a couple of MeToo moments....
I may add more to this review after my book club's discussion in a few days. But some of these stories are definitely NOT for children, especially The Tinderbox. The version I remember from my childhood must have been a bit sanitized.
And there were definitely a couple of MeToo moments....
June 10, 2023
Hans Christian Andersen is (aside from perhaps the Brothers Grimm) the most famous compiler and inventor of fairytales in the Western World. In fact, because he was so familiar with tales from the Orient as well, his fame may indeed spread further than that of contemporaries like the Grimms, or forerunners like Charles Perrault.
The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, compiled and edited by Noel Daniel, presents the man’s greatest works created over the course of a lifetime. Here are the most famous and timeless tales, like The Ugly Duckling and The Little Mermaid, strong in narrative and rich in metaphor. Here also, though, are perhaps lesser-known but equally meaningful and moving stories like The Old Man is Always Right and The Shepherdess and the Chimneysweep. I found the latter especially moving, with its tale of two figurines who attempt to escape the confines of their house via the chimney. They achieve their end, but once on the rooftop they are stunned and paralyzed by the vastness of the world beyond the snuggery of the shelf where they previously sat. They return then, to the house, going down the chimney the same way they went up, grateful again for the domestic bliss of their cloistered little world.
Andersen’s tales are less preoccupied with imparting morals than those of the Grimms, and are, in my opinion, all the better for it. He many times has a point to make, about the power of love or the caprice of the rich and powerful. But giving divertissement to the young and young at heart remains his chief goal. Also, unlike the Grimms, he is not preoccupied with balancing an intellectual aim against maintaining a demotic and accessible style. Andersen, unlike the Grimms, came from the very bottom of society and thus knew poverty and all its attendant illnesses not sociologically, but from the inside out. It somehow makes his tales more authentic and intimate.
The artwork on offer here is first-rate, and even includes some of Andersen’s own paper cuttings alongside the lithographs, etchings, watercolors, pen and ink and oil paintings. Styles range from the gothic to the modern, though thankfully the postmodern is left out of the equation; frankly, I don’t want to see an ameboid Mark Rothko blot taking up space on the page even in a story that contains the word “ugly” in the title.
Each story is preceded by a short introduction by the compiler Noel Daniel. He’s obviously very knowledgeable not just about Andersen but about the griotic history of the fairytale in general. That said, he knows what people came here for (the pictures and stories) and so gets out of the way after gracefully setting the scene and providing a couple insights.
All in all a very solid collection, and a worthy addition to any library shelf or coffee table.
The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, compiled and edited by Noel Daniel, presents the man’s greatest works created over the course of a lifetime. Here are the most famous and timeless tales, like The Ugly Duckling and The Little Mermaid, strong in narrative and rich in metaphor. Here also, though, are perhaps lesser-known but equally meaningful and moving stories like The Old Man is Always Right and The Shepherdess and the Chimneysweep. I found the latter especially moving, with its tale of two figurines who attempt to escape the confines of their house via the chimney. They achieve their end, but once on the rooftop they are stunned and paralyzed by the vastness of the world beyond the snuggery of the shelf where they previously sat. They return then, to the house, going down the chimney the same way they went up, grateful again for the domestic bliss of their cloistered little world.
Andersen’s tales are less preoccupied with imparting morals than those of the Grimms, and are, in my opinion, all the better for it. He many times has a point to make, about the power of love or the caprice of the rich and powerful. But giving divertissement to the young and young at heart remains his chief goal. Also, unlike the Grimms, he is not preoccupied with balancing an intellectual aim against maintaining a demotic and accessible style. Andersen, unlike the Grimms, came from the very bottom of society and thus knew poverty and all its attendant illnesses not sociologically, but from the inside out. It somehow makes his tales more authentic and intimate.
The artwork on offer here is first-rate, and even includes some of Andersen’s own paper cuttings alongside the lithographs, etchings, watercolors, pen and ink and oil paintings. Styles range from the gothic to the modern, though thankfully the postmodern is left out of the equation; frankly, I don’t want to see an ameboid Mark Rothko blot taking up space on the page even in a story that contains the word “ugly” in the title.
Each story is preceded by a short introduction by the compiler Noel Daniel. He’s obviously very knowledgeable not just about Andersen but about the griotic history of the fairytale in general. That said, he knows what people came here for (the pictures and stories) and so gets out of the way after gracefully setting the scene and providing a couple insights.
All in all a very solid collection, and a worthy addition to any library shelf or coffee table.
May 13, 2021
Some fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, includes his more popular tales like The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, and The Emperor's New Clothes. Love that each tale has a brief intro and history on it. Also love that they have a variety of illustrators for the tales.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2023
Amazing, original tales. The illustration is also one of a kind!
March 5, 2024
Original text and illustrations, not Disney
August 10, 2020
I read this aloud to my daughters and they loved it. The illustrations are amazing, and we enjoyed the stories.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews