Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales: Selected and Illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger

by Hans Christian Andersen, Lisbeth Zwerger (Illustrator)

- The Sandman
- The Jumpers
- Thumbeline
- The Rose Tree Regiment
- The Naughty Boy
- The Swineherd
- The Emperor's New Clothes
- The Princess and the Pea
- The Nightingale
- The Little Match Girl

Genres: Classics, Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Picture Books, Scandinavian Literature

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1875

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

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

You should call things by their true names, and even if you don't do so usually, you ought to in a fairy tale.
--HCA, "The Rose-Tree Regiment"

I enjoyed most the first section, from The Sandman, a series of pleasant dreams for good children. I'll have to read it in full some time.

As for the rest, they were mostly better-known Andersen tales, all of which I had read before, some even previously illustrated by Zwerger as stand-alone picture books. So, nice illustrations, big text blocks, familiar stories. Nothing to wrote home about unless you've not read them before.

My favorite was from Thumbelina, because doesn't the flower fairy prince totally look like a douche trying to make it with some innocent teen?

[Esther Hong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revisited for Zwerger's poignant illustrations. She chose to illustrate 11 of her favourite tales:

- The Sandman
- The Jumpers
- Thumbeline
- The Tinderbox
- The Rose Tree Regiment
- The Naughty Boy
- The Swineherd
- The Emperor's New Clothes
- The Princess and the Pea
- The Nightingale
- The Little Match Girl

Swineherd, Nightingale and Little Match Girl were memorable tales. Thumbeline had the most enchanting drawings, I think. I finished this book last night and I still feel Andersen's tales are way too depressing. Lul.

[Kyra Verbruggen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Er zitten een paar echt mooie sprookjes tussen maar de zware patriarchale ondertoon in sommige andere sprookjes is echt moeilijk te negeren

[Tnahsin Garg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3/5

I'm a bit confused on the rating I should give here. Some of the stories were clearly profound and soul stirring while some were okay to the point of being trivial. Plus, reading HC Andersen while commuting in a bus as I did is not the best of ideas, so I might come back to him later!

The reason I read him is because I'm currently living in Denmark and have been intending to go to his museum since long. But I didn't want to go there, until I was acquainted with his work. After reading some of his most popular as well as most obscure works, I feel I'll be confident enough to walk in the museum :)

Andersen is a proper story teller. There's often a strong presence of himself in the narrator which is quite interesting. Secondly, his stories not only revolve around animals which feel and think like humans do but also include common place inanimate objects like the lamp, the shoe, or the moon! Such personification abuse I found quite queer and at times amusing.

His stories can be read as a poetry of ideas, where a moral in the end is often stronger than the climax itself. About the prose, since I read them translated in English, I missed most of his lyrical Danish prose. Some of the stories like 'The Little Mermaid', 'The Little Match-seller', and 'The Shadow' are really, really touching and they evoke such great ideas that...that...uh, now they are making me rethink my decision of 3 stars.

Final Verdict: If you got kids, read a fairy tale aloud to them every night. They will sure grow up to be righteous and conscientious individuals.

[Scott Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hans Christian Andersen was a phenomenal fairy tale writer and some of his stories have become so culturally common that they almost don't need retelling. Getting to hear them in their "original" forms is always refreshing. Not quite as dark as the brothers Grimm but still morbid in some corners. His Little Klaus and Big Klaus is a funny but dark tale. I am not sure who is creepier!

[Caroline W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh to feel like a child again!

[Sally Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly good, with a lot of God in them. A few didn't make a lot of sense, and some....well, I questioned what they were trying to teach!

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Less magical and more dreary than I was expecting.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a children's fairy tale collection book and winner of the Hans Christian Anderson Medal intended for readers aged 5 and up. As stated this is a collection of tales such as The Sandman, The Jumpers, Thumbeline, The Tinderbox, The Rose Tree Regiment, The Naughty Boy, The Swineherd, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Princess and The Pea, The Nightengale, and The Little Match Girl in consecutive order. The book is written with simple and direct language (The Princess and The Pea is only a page long)and only a couple stories begin with Once upon a time. The illustrations are beautiful and artistic and have an Old World feel to them. Each page has a border both around the words and pictures. The pages are well organized and free of clutter with a deliberate lack of use of blank space. I gave this a three-star rating because I feel that not all of the stories are entertaining some of which are moralistically twisted (the way the disguised swineherder treats the princess at the end regardless of her own ill-treatment of him is wrong or the fact that the soldier from The Tinderbox doest receive any punishment for his crimes (thievery and murder) but get rewarded instead). The Naughty Boy (Cupid) even seems to have taken a dark turn due to a poor old man's heartache. Although this book is by a celebrated children's book author and illustrator and has won a prestigious medal, I cant see myself recommending this book for a classroom but maybe individual tales such as The Sandman which I enjoyed reading quite allot and believe children would too. The Emperors New Clothes is another tale from this book which was quite enjoyable and adaptable to the social studies curriculum. Discussions could be based on how people behave under peer pressure or outside influences after reading the story.

[Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales, selected and Illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger, is a folklore collection. It has won the Hans Christian Andersen Medaille, and is most likely intended for children ages 5-10.

Summary: A collection of eleven of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales, including the Princess and the Pea, Thumbeline, and The Emperor’s New Clothes.

Evaluation: I rated this book 5 stars because in addition to being a well-rounded collection of very good interpretations of Anderson’s original fairy tales, the tone in which the collection is written makes it perfect for reading aloud. There are also some less recognizable tales included in this book, and I believe that the interpreter was very successful in integrating them into the book without making them feel overshadowed by more famous stories. The language used is not overly simple, but mimics the natural rhythm of human speech and is clearly intended to be read aloud to younger children (although the book is very enjoyable read silently, too). Lisbeth Zwerger’s illustrations are beautiful and strike the perfect balance between realistically rendered, expressive, and simple. However, this is not a picture book, so younger children might get bored on pages without any illustration. This book would be appealing to young readers because it includes some tales that they have almost certainly not heard before, and because it is written in such a matter of fact, lively way. When working with children this book should definitely be read out loud, and while they are listening children could work on coloring pages of scenes from the stories. Afterwards, they could be encouraged to discuss which stories were their favorites and why.

[sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales selected by Lisbeth Zwerger is a collection of fairy tales and was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medaille. I would use these collections for children age 5 to 12. This book is collection of H.C. Andersen tales. It had many stories that were familiar to most adults but also some lesser known tales like The Swinherd. This book is easy to understand but can be a bit dark for younger readers. The stories are well written and clear and also organized to end with a sad, yet quiet ending. The lack of pictures I think, makes the stories more relate able because the reader can input their own images of the characters. These are great to read during an indoor recess and fun for a rainy day.

[Angela Randall]

This looks like a beautiful version of the stories.


Project Gutenberg has a free ebook and audiobook of a Hans Christian Andersen book with 18 fairy tales in it.

These are the stories in the Project Gutenberg files:
-- The emperor's new clothes
-- The swineherd
-- The real princess
-- The shoes of fortune
-- The fir tree
-- The snow queen
-- The leap-frog
-- The elderbush
-- The bell
-- The old house
-- The happy family
-- The story of a mother
-- The false collar
-- The shadow
-- The little match girl
-- The dream of little Tuk
-- The naughty boy
-- The red shoes.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I requested this from the library and finally got it about a year later. I thought it must really be something special. When I finally got it, our three weeks were up before we even cracked the cover, so I renewed it. We read one story that was one page, and I started reading another (Thumbelina), thinking it would also be short. Oh no. It was super long and I couldn't finish it before bedtime. This will probably be great for when the kids are older. Pictures seem good.

[Lillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course
I have to praise the World famous Danish fairy tale writer. Danish as I am I have read or heard most of the fairytales A million times. I have playedxsome of the characters already in prepschool, Sean puppet Thestrup, shadow teatre, avantgarde teatre, film, tv, heard the most fantastic actors, seen Them do H.C. Andersen. As I have never read the tales in English I wonder how Andersen's special Danish Can be translated

[Robert Sylwery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooohh! His stories are SO great, fascinating, interesting, witty. Can't pick right word. I like Hans Christian Andersen from The Ugly Duckling, The Little Match Girl, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea, The Snow Queen, I almost read everything by him, but there are so many little stories. I just love them.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pleasant collection of 18 fairy tales. Andersen does have a religious angle to his tales. It includes the well known story of The Emperor's New Clothes. Disney's recent movie Frozen is based on the tale of The Snow Queen. The last story in the book is The Red Shoes which was a 1948 movie nominated for an Oscar for best picture.

[Sammm · Rating 3 out of 5]

The edition I borrowed from the library (with the same isbn) only has 104 pages in total. It includes the following stories:

"The Sandman"
"The Jumpers"
"Thumbeline"
"The Tinderbox"
"The Rose Tree Regiment"
"The Naughty Boy"
"The Swineherd"
"The Emperor's New Clothes"
"The Princess and the Pea"
"The Nightingale"
"The Little Match Girl"

Review WIP

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations are poignant, sophisticated and astoundingly beautiful. Loved it.

[Susan]

I finished, but one is never finished with Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales.

[Mowey Godoyzki · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have the vintagest copy of the book given by my father, all of them fairy tales compiled in one book. still haven't read The Little Mermaid though.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite collections of Fairy Tales

[Teddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These have to be some of the most morbid and bizarre stories I have ever heard.

[Vijay]

thfhdd

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can say is that Disney got it wrong. Very, VERY wrong.

[Oksana · Rating 5 out of 5]

timeless classics

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations, and The Nightingale is quite a touching story.

[Ayoub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dazzling narratives from The World of Hans Andersen, depicting the mysteries of life in the form of twisting and unusual events and characters.