The Classic Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales

by Hans Christian Andersen

For generations of readers, Hans Christian Andersen's stories have opened a world of unforgettable enchantment. This beautiful edition brings nine of Andersen's most beloved tales to life through rich, full color artwork by some of America's most gifted illustrators.

Discover the fun and humor of "The Emperor's New Clothes," the magic and romance of "The Little Mermaid," and the charm of "The Ugly Duckling," to name just a few of the classic stories found here.

The elegant gift edition of The Classic Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales is full of wonder, adventure, and magic, and will be long cherished by children and adults alike.

Sheila Black is a noted author and editor of children's books. Her most celebrated book is the best-selling The Story of the Easter Bunny.

The seven illustrators of this edition share a love for children's books. Erin Augenstine is an illustrator and art teacher. Andrew Babanovsky was a celebrated illustrator in the Soviet Union before moving to the United States, where he works as an artist. Richard Bernal is a well-known children's book artist whose works includes 'Night Zoo and The Classic Treasury of Children's Poetry. Arlene Klemushin has lent her artistic talents to greeting cards, calendars, puzzles, and books. Robyn Officer's work has appeared in many children's books, including The Three Little Pigs, The Classic Grimm's Fairy Tales, and The Story of the Easter Bunny. Karen Pritchett teaches fashion drawing and has illustrated numerous books, including The Secret Garden and The Classic Christmas Treasury for Children. The work of Richard Walz, a celebrated fantasy artist, has appeared in a variety of books, including several Courage Books editions.

Genres: Childrens

56 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Hans Christian Andersen (often referred to in Scandinavia as H.C. Andersen) was a Danish author and poet. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories — called eventyr, or "fairy-tales" — express themes that transcend age and nationality.

Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Nightingale", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and many more. His stories have inspired plays, ballets, and both live-action and animated films.

Reviews

[Lady reading under the Willow · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are not fairy tale people, apparently. Even though these are the classics, none of us loved these stories. We were familiar with all of them from other sources, and the pictures were mostly lovely (there was some immodesty in 'The Little Mermaid' and 'The Princess and the Pea'), but I guess we just really like stories that have happy endings, and make sense, and so many of these were just sorrowful and depressing (or odd. I will never like the story of Thumbelina, no matter how many times I read it or how the tale is retold). But as a whole, we liked this book "okay."

A side note, having not VERY much to do with this particular book I'm reviewing but still relevant: I've attempted to read Hans Christian Andersen's Complete Fairy Tales & Stories and was so disgruntled by the oddities and inconsistencies. Where one tale might seem to point to a moral of being kind and generous, and receiving riches and friends (and the princess) by living so, the next story features a guy who murders an old lady so he could steal her magic knife (or magical object of some sort; now I can't remember what it was, exactly) and enter a hidden fairyland, where he is well received and marries the princess and inherits the kingdom. There's one where the protagonist is touted as clever for tying his opponent up in a sack and drowning him in the river, while walking away with a herd of cattle to live a rich and prosperous life...and so many other strange stories, that I have never felt terribly inclined to try finishing the massive beautiful volume that sits on my shelf. Anyway, back to this particular book:

It's a pretty book, and I wouldn't have skipped these stories because I do think it's important for kids to have knowledge of these, even just for cultural literacy, but that doesn't mean I would have read them aloud to very young children. I'm not sold on the idea of feeding small children with scary, sad, strange, disturbing, and otherwise unsettling fairy tales. *I* still get creeped out by many fairy tales. Don't get me started on the one I'm working through right now (Andrew Lang's The Yellow Fairy Book) because that one also exhibits various levels of odd/disturbing. I also remember abandoning a similar anthology (Eric Carle's Treasury of Classic Stories for Children) that traumatized my children, because I DID read it to them when they were little (whoops, poor decision).

So we read this (The Classic Andersen's Fairy Tales) at ages 10/12. For us, that was a good time.

Considering these are probably the most well-known of H.C.A.'s tales, I'd say they're also the best ones, and I was glad that the weirdest of his stories were not included.

[BRNTerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

See all illustrations here.

This contains nine stories and is just 56 pages. This is a taller than average book, which is disappointing because it won't fit on my shelf. It measures 13 1/4" x 10 1/8" x 1/2". The full color illustrations are absolutely beautiful and very colorful.

The stories are retold by author and poet Sheila Black and illustrated by seven people. Each story contains more than two full color images. I didn't compare the stories to the originals so I can't tell you if they're practically the same or not, but I think they are, from what I can remember of the originals. Most of these stories aren't really fit for children, but you likely already knew that. The Little Mermaid is far too deep and dark for children and I really like it. It's very sad. The Little Match Girl and The Ugly Duckling definitely aren't for children. But I like dark stories so I liked all of these, even the light ones. Truthfully I bought this for the illustrations.

[Sloane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wonder if Hans Christian Anderson had a sad life. He wrote a lot of sad stories. I really like all the stories in this book, but my favorite is "The Emperor's New Clothes." It is just hilarious.

[Rivkah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this volume of stories and most of all the pictures that go with them. They included all the classics as well as a few not told as much.