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Best Fairy Tales
A selection of Andresen’s best-loved tales.
442 pages, Hardcover
Published September 1, 2011
70 people are currently reading
258 people want to read
About the author
Hans Christian Andersen
7,786 books3,546 followersHans 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 28, 2024
*3.8
Liked some stories, some were skipped.
Liked some stories, some were skipped.
February 19, 2021
Enter the many worlds of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales!
"Best Fairy Tales" is a collection of select classic stories from arguably the most influential author of children's fairy tales. Conveniently ordered by year of publication, each story within the book is brimming with imagination and surprisingly high amounts of emotion for its genre. Some stories even feature wonderful illustrations that compliment the narratives.
Readers young and old will get to experience the original famous stories that were made into films (such as The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling) as well as more obscure yet intriguing tales (like The Tinder Box and The Wild Swans). Most of the stories contain some lessons to be learned, but some of them can be quite dark thematically and even end in a bittersweet or downright sad way. They can really tug at your emotions at times.
I found a few of the stories to be relatively weak, especially the ones around the beginning of the book. These were the ones that felt rushed and that contained a somewhat clever message or twist ending. But even these were very well written and effort was put into creating the scenarios and making them more imaginative than expected, especially for the time when they were published.
"Best Fairy Tales" is a good book that is recommended for readers of classic fiction and children's stories. You will get a taste of some of the finest and most imaginative fantasy storytelling in this wonderful book!
"Best Fairy Tales" is a collection of select classic stories from arguably the most influential author of children's fairy tales. Conveniently ordered by year of publication, each story within the book is brimming with imagination and surprisingly high amounts of emotion for its genre. Some stories even feature wonderful illustrations that compliment the narratives.
Readers young and old will get to experience the original famous stories that were made into films (such as The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling) as well as more obscure yet intriguing tales (like The Tinder Box and The Wild Swans). Most of the stories contain some lessons to be learned, but some of them can be quite dark thematically and even end in a bittersweet or downright sad way. They can really tug at your emotions at times.
I found a few of the stories to be relatively weak, especially the ones around the beginning of the book. These were the ones that felt rushed and that contained a somewhat clever message or twist ending. But even these were very well written and effort was put into creating the scenarios and making them more imaginative than expected, especially for the time when they were published.
"Best Fairy Tales" is a good book that is recommended for readers of classic fiction and children's stories. You will get a taste of some of the finest and most imaginative fantasy storytelling in this wonderful book!
August 26, 2020
Such beautiful storytelling, it took me to my childhood.
Some of my favorite tales were:
- The Little Mermaid (I cried)
- The Emperor's New Clothes (I laughed so much)
- The Steadfast Tin Soldier (literally toy story but better, sorry not sorry)
- The Swineherd
- The Fir Tree
- The Little Match Girl (heartbreaking)
- The Story Of a Mother (it was so so sad)
- It's Quite True (literally how rumors work)
- The Butterfly
Such beautiful tales, which will stay with me forever.
Some of my favorite tales were:
- The Little Mermaid (I cried)
- The Emperor's New Clothes (I laughed so much)
- The Steadfast Tin Soldier (literally toy story but better, sorry not sorry)
- The Swineherd
- The Fir Tree
- The Little Match Girl (heartbreaking)
- The Story Of a Mother (it was so so sad)
- It's Quite True (literally how rumors work)
- The Butterfly
Such beautiful tales, which will stay with me forever.
February 8, 2024
As I'm on a recent re-discovery of fairy tales I loved reading every page of this. I had the book as a child (not this particular one) and loved reading Anderson's tales. When starting I vaguely remembered that his tales usually are quite sad but my favourite was always The Little Mermaid. I love that story in its original form a lot, lot more than the Disneyfied cute version. The first part of the book detailing some of Anderson's life was a true insight and highly interesting.
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April 23, 2025This book was an interesting read. I’m not sure I am able to rate it, not really, so I’d rather describe the feeling.
This book is like a haze, or maybe a set of dreams we used to have in childhood. There’s not much logic or much intentional moral of each story. Sometimes the protagonist is lucky and cruel but the story has a happy ending and other times there’s a strong desire for something not morally wrong but something seen as not okay to wish for and the ending is tragedy.
This book is like a haze, or maybe a set of dreams we used to have in childhood. There’s not much logic or much intentional moral of each story. Sometimes the protagonist is lucky and cruel but the story has a happy ending and other times there’s a strong desire for something not morally wrong but something seen as not okay to wish for and the ending is tragedy.
July 6, 2022
Best fairytales: The Galoshes of Fortune, The Snow Queen, The Little Match Girl, The Old House
Nice fairytales but use of language made it difficult to understand from time to time. Probably won’t read it completely again
Nice fairytales but use of language made it difficult to understand from time to time. Probably won’t read it completely again
May 22, 2023
Favourite - the Fir Tree. It reads like a children's story (duh) but the underlying idea resonates with anybody. It explores yearning for something which you do not have. The way it unfolds in the end is quite sad. I may have shed a tear
January 5, 2022
my average rating for this short story collection came to a whopping 2.375 stars.
i’m pretty sure that’s cemented my previous idea that fairy tales and short stories are just not my thing!
i’m pretty sure that’s cemented my previous idea that fairy tales and short stories are just not my thing!
December 8, 2023
Nice little book of Andersen's fairy tales, some of which I had not read before.
March 15, 2025
Artistry intertwined with darkness.
December 22, 2022
I'm giving up with 3 stories left before completion (Ice Maiden, Butterfly and Dryad)
At this point it's fair to say fairy tales aren't my thing. I struggled to read these and even with the help of audiobooks it was hard to concentrate, my mind would always wonder off and I'd not remember anything that had been read.
There's something about the structure of fairy tales that bothers me. Not only are they old, which makes them a little harder to get into, but there's something somewhat too convenient about them. Anything could randomly happen with little explanation (not specific to HCA btw). You get sentences such as "It's a well known fact that penguins love butter, and thus the little milkmaid was left with nothing and had to marry the troll." It's hard for me to get invested when everything feels very random and unearned.
There were some cute stories, but as a whole it's not my thing and it's the format I dislike more than Andersen's ideas and talent.
What I really enjoyed about this book though (which I bought at Copenhagen airport during my trip this summer, as a souvenir btw), was the introduction about the author. I found it fascinating. I usually don't bother with intros, but here I'm glad I did because it gave me an understanding of some of the stories, which was interesting especially from a gay pov. If there's a biopic on this man's life I would gladly watch it.
At this point it's fair to say fairy tales aren't my thing. I struggled to read these and even with the help of audiobooks it was hard to concentrate, my mind would always wonder off and I'd not remember anything that had been read.
There's something about the structure of fairy tales that bothers me. Not only are they old, which makes them a little harder to get into, but there's something somewhat too convenient about them. Anything could randomly happen with little explanation (not specific to HCA btw). You get sentences such as "It's a well known fact that penguins love butter, and thus the little milkmaid was left with nothing and had to marry the troll." It's hard for me to get invested when everything feels very random and unearned.
There were some cute stories, but as a whole it's not my thing and it's the format I dislike more than Andersen's ideas and talent.
What I really enjoyed about this book though (which I bought at Copenhagen airport during my trip this summer, as a souvenir btw), was the introduction about the author. I found it fascinating. I usually don't bother with intros, but here I'm glad I did because it gave me an understanding of some of the stories, which was interesting especially from a gay pov. If there's a biopic on this man's life I would gladly watch it.
August 25, 2020
Some of the fairy tales are magical and captivating, some cheesy and childish. But all in all, and interesting read! I enjoyed it and all it meant for children literature ever since. It's also interesting to see the themes of the stories change as Andersen grew older.
November 10, 2011
I will treasure this precious book for ever. I hold these beautiful stories so close to my heart.
August 11, 2018
"One doesn't fall, so long as one doesn't think of it!" said Rudy.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews