Andersen's Fairy Tales

This was an interesting collection because while it featured some familiar stories ("The Ugly Duckling," "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Shepherdess and the Sweep," and one of my all-time favorites "The Snow Queen"), most of the 22 stores in the book were new to me. Many of these feature important (and harsh) lessons on the importance of being humble and kind. We get a lot of inanimate objects (like the tin soldier or the porcelain shepherdess) acting like humans and learning those lessons for us. My favorite new-to-me story in the collection is the rather odd tale "The Old Street Lamp" -- how could you possibly resist a story that begins "Have you ever heard the story of the old Street Lamp? It's really not very amusing, but you show more might listen to it for once."

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2013/07/andersens-fairy-tales-by-hans-christian.ht... ] show less

Note: The version I read is on DailyLit.com, so this review is for that edition.

This is a classic set of short stories by Hans Christian Andersen. While I was vaguely familiar with some of the tales in this set, most were entirely new to me. Thanks to Disney, we tend to think of fairy tales as having “happily ever after” endings, and that is most definitely not the case with Andersen’s stories. A few do, but plenty also end with death or loss.
While most are short stories, “The Shoes of Fortune” and “The Snow Queen” are both longer pieces. “Shoes” involves a pair of boots that transports the wearer to wherever and whenever they want to be, including whomever they wish to be. One character visits the moon, another show more becomes a bird, and another goes back to the Middle Ages. This was easily my favorite story of the whole set.
Andersen keeps a playful tone in most of the stories, even the darker ones. In one story, he mentions people reading “a new poem by H. C. Andersen.” I love when authors unabashedly insert themselves into a story. If you’re interested in fairy tales, you should check out this book. show less

This review is for the 1945 collection of Andersen's Fairy tales, illustrated by Szyk. The illustrations are lovely to look at, but some of the stories could be pretty danged dark (as anyone who has studied fairytale history will know)

Another reviewer mentioned The Little Mermaid, which IS an Andersen tale... but it's not part of this particular collection. There are a few other tales which might be familiar (Snow Queen, Ugly Duckling, Princess and the Pea) but there is no Little Mermaid in here. All in all, this is a good collection if it's not 100 percent complete. I recommend that if you're going to get this book, get its companion of Grimm's fairy tales, illustrated/published by the same people. 4.5/5 stars.

Many of Hans Andersen's stories, such as The Little Mermaid, The Little Matchgirl and The Steadfast Tin Soldier, reflect a Victorian sensibility that even children must have a personal familiarity with death, having siblings and grandparents who have died. Stories that include the death of the principle character are appropriate for them. And these deaths are presented as a part of life, in some cases not only inevitable, but better than the alternative (The Little Match Girl).

Death is not a big theme in modern children's literature! Some libraries even put these books in a special section since some parents feel strongly they are not appropriate for their children. And where death appears, it is presented as an unexpected, unusual show more tragedy, a violation of an assumption that every story, and every life, will have a happy ending. show less

Weird illustrations by the amazing Arthur Szyk add an unsettling tone to the Andersen we all know and love.

This is the same book I used to pore over as a child, searching for an illustration that I could like, that had pretty children in it and kind parents. There are none in Arthur Szyk's pictures.

Rated: B+
Wonderful tales told with a child-like perspective. Many of Disney's classics owe a debt to Andersen.

It’s beautiful and I love fairy tales. This is one of my favorite collections of these tales.