The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Andersen

by Jane Yolen, Dennis Nolan (Illustrator)

Provides readers with an illustrated biography about this prolific writer through a review of his childhood years, early inspirations, and grand adult aspirations that resulted in his celebrated collection of children’s stories.

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens, History, Fairy Tales, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 3, 2005

About the author

Jane Yolen is a novelist, poet, fantasist, journalist, songwriter, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s book author who has written more than three hundred books. Her accolades include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, the Kerlan Award, two Christopher Awards, and six honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Born and raised in New York City, the mother of three and the grandmother of six, Yolen lives in Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.

Reviews

[Whole And · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely beautifully refined living book on the Hans Christian Anderson including intimate details about his personal life, the fascinating tale of how he to be the great timeless writer he is known as now and wonderful quotes from a wide variety of his stories. Perfect illustrations to accompany the story. Interestingly, Jane Yolen has been deemed the modern Hans Christian Anderson making this story about her mentor more heart warming. Thoroughly enjoyed this real life telling of the man behind the stories we cherish.

[Libby Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Yolen is a master. She’s in fact been called “the American Hans Christian Andersen”. So as I try to read as many of her books as I can this year (she’s only written over 400), it was clear to me this would be one I would read early on.

I loved the text and flow of her writing. The pairing of Andersen’s fairy tale quotes to what was being described about his life and character development on each page was stunning. Deceptively simple.

The illustration style wasn’t my favorite. It didn’t seem vibrant enough for Andersen’s ambitious and resilient person. But this is still a gem of a picture book biography! Definitely makes me want to delve into his fairy tales and life more fully.

This is not a picture book for young children, either. I would recommend this for kids 8 and up who are interested in writing or who may be familiar with some of his fairy tales.

[SaraKat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an article on the internet about how strange HCA was and wanted to know more. I got some biographies from the library and included this picture book version. It is well-told and I always like Yolen. The quotes from his stories to accompany each portion of his life are well chosen and the tale moves along at a good pace. The illustrations are lovely and muted in color so they aren't cartoonish.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. So many words spent on childhood, so little on what he actually accomplished. So many words taken from his own works it almost felt plagiaristic. And the tinted sepia illustrations are washed out and gloomy, not at all true to life. (My pet peeve about art about the old days is that it forgets that there was color back then.)

[Jamie Chaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this from the library and read aloud to my kids (11,9,8,7). they were immediately drawn in! the illustrations were great and the story was very engaging. we all were left wanting to read his stories!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hans Christian Andersen was tenacious!

[Treasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales but I have never really known much about his life (except what I learned from the Danny Kaye movie, which is not the most reliable source). This picture book biography was a good introduction to the life of a wonderful writer. I loved that Yolen chose a passage from one of his stories to accompany each page of text, and the passages were always relevant to Andersen's life. The illustrations (by Dennis Nolan) are also wonderful and give the book a fairytale-like feel, which seems rather appropriate for a book about Andersen. The book mostly focuses on Andersen's childhood and early adulthood, which works well for a children's book.

One thing that I find amusing about this book is that it made me think that Andersen really was not a very likable person. It sounds as if he had a rather high opinion of his own genius and made sure people knew it. This is not a criticism of the book - from other things I have read about Andersen, this seems to be a pretty accurate portrayal. But rather than focusing on how cocky he was, I was able to be amused by his character, which is mostly due to Yolen's writing (and my predisposition to like the author of such wonderful stories).

I think children would enjoy this book mostly if they are familiar with Andersen's tales. Otherwise they might wonder why they should care about this bizarre man who considered himself a genius.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything Jane Yolen pens is magical and well written. Thus book is no exception. I knew very little of Hans Christian Andersen. In lyrical style, using passages from his own stories, Yolen notes his early life, born 1805 in Denmark to a poor family. His father was a shoemaker and his mother was a washerwoman.

With a history of mental illness -- his grandfather was quite mad --, it is logical that when Hans was lanky, ugly and acted rather strangely, he also was thought to be "crazy." From the beginning of his life, he wove tales, some of which were quite happy. Making puppets and clothes for them, he had them mimic the story flowing from his mind.

While Hans thought he was telling stories, others thought he was quite a liar. He had no friends in school and the legacy of his grandfather's illness followed him wherever he went.

His father died when Hans was eleven, leaving the family destitute. Longing to be an actor, Once again, his unconventional actions brought scorn. He continued to write and paid to have his first book printed. It was not successful. But, his luck changed when he once again went to the Royal Theater and was accepted. He was gangly, ugly and unkempt, but the directors game him a chance.

Eventually, he went to University, and was successful in having one of his plays performed. At the age of 30, he began to write fairytales:

Dying at the age of 70, his fairy tales were well known and quite successful.

[Relyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most years I teach a fairy tale unit. I do so love fairy tales, you see. Growing up, I'd read a fairytale over anything else. In fact, I have a lovely collection of gorgeously illustrated fairy tales. This book was a special pleasure. Jane Yolen has been called the Hans Christian Anderson of our times. This book proved that like no other. She used quotes from Anderson's own stories to illuminate his life. This was a biography like I've never read. An honest biography that was somehow both a storybook and a fairytale. Perfect!

I can't wait to read it to my students to kick off our fairy tale unit next year.

June 15, 2016
I reread this book again, and I still love it.

[Inhabiting Books]

A fascinating biography about the man who gave us The Little Mermaid, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Thumbelina, etc. My older girls (ages 6 and 7) really liked this story, which kind of surprised me. Not that the story wasn't well done; it was excellently told and illustrated. I'm just vaguely surprised that they stayed interested.

(There was a lot going on each page: the regular text, which told the story of his life, plus a quotation from one of his tales that illustrates how his real life experience worked into his stories. While that was interesting for me to go back and read, it was too confusing for my little girls, so I just skipped that part and read the straight biography.)

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hans Christian Andersen came off as a bit of an egotist in this, and his mother came off as being even stranger than he was, but this really helped me to appreciate how much Andersen struggled to become what he was. It was a really hard life. Yolen packs in a lot of quotes from his fairy tales, but on the whole does a great job describing the author of so many of our most beloved fairy tales. It's only fitting that she should be the author of a biography of his life since she is seemingly fond of the honorary title of "Hans Christian Andersen of America". This is a good read, worth your time.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really captivating book. Hans Christian Andersen probably had some sort of psychopathology from my understanding of him given by this book. Madness in the family, and some rather eccentric behaviours from him. It shows Jane Yolen has an obvious admiration for his work, and has made a huge amount of research into his life. Perfect little quotes from his stories placed as footnotes on each page. I'm not sure how interesting this would be to child readers, but it was very interesting for me. Made me want to reread his stories, and perhaps find a biography aimed at adult readers too.

[Tyler]

A strange man who wove strange tales, this complete biography focuses on the eccentric Hans Christian Andersen, the man behind the fairytales. Unfortunately, the story of Andersen's life is told in a too-dry fashion that's sometimes hard to read. The illustrations are well done, with soft light that gives them the fairytale quality lacking in the text. For devotees of Andersen's fairytale collection, this might be a book worth owning if only to read once and admire the pictures.

[June Pecchia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learn about this beloved Danish genius from American genius Jane Yolen. Well-written, including selected quotations from many of Andersen's stories I've never heard of...makes me want to read all his tales.
Good reading for a child who may feel he or she doesn't fit in...

[Mouse Denehy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite features of the book are the quotes at the bottom. They bring the words of his biography to life by giving us a taste of his writing and words. The book flows well and the illustrations are fun, whimsical and relevant.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent picture book biography. Yolen covers the highlights of his life, his successes and his failures. Each page also has a quotation from one of his stories. Dennis Nolan's lovely illustrations in muted colors are brilliantly executed and finely detailed.

[Bernice Seward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed Ms. Yolen's biography of Hans Christian Andersen very much. The writing was clear and interesting, and the quotes from Andersen's works were beautiful. I read three junior biographies about Mr. Andersen in the past couple of weeks, and this was my favorite by far.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the illustrations!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really excellent biography. Mom gives it 5 stars. Ella says 3.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very very short and simple book about Hans Christian Anderson, written for children--fabulous!

[Donna Jo Atwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juvenile biography of Hans Christian Andersen which details how portions of his life later appeared in his stories.

[Katie Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hans Christian Andersen

[Holly Mueller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how while the story of Hans's life is being told, quotes from his fairy tales go along with it. A timeline of his fairy tales and when they were published is in the back.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to this short audiobook of Hans Christian Andersen's life. I realized I knew little about his life beyond writing the fairy tales.

[Earl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved how his life was mirrored by excerpts from the fairy tales he wrote. He didn’t give up on his dreams and seemed to live for the sole reason of sharing his stories with others!

[Samra · Rating 5 out of 5]

a fantastic life for a fairy tale author

[N_patricia Brunner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this book in NON-Print and also read the text.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful account of a beloved author.