This beautiful hardback compendium of some of Hans Christian Andersen's most beloved and magical tales (translated from the original Danish by Misha Hoekstra) is just what's needed as the nights draw in and winter grips us...Snow Queens, Tin Soldiers, Swan Princes - a real comforting, traditional set of stories, given new life in this lovely edition, with the addition of beautiful illustrations throughout from Helen Crawford-White and Lucie Arnoux. (How good would these look as colouring in pages!?)
There are no twists or plot changes- these are classics and deservedly so - the stories are some of the most popular of Andersens's incredible catalogue, but re-reading them is never a chore, and actually, as a teacher, I have noticed a decline in familiarity with classic tales such as these over recent years, so the release of a book such as this that will encourage readers to pick up and discover (either for the first time or anew) is a lovely thing to see.
The stories included are:
The Snow Queen
The Wild Swans
The Little Mermaid
The Nightingale
The True-Hearted Tin Soldier
Well worth adding to an existing collection, or to a stocking as a beautiful gift this Christmas!
Thanks to Poppy at Pushkin Press (@PushkinPress) for the copy of this to review pre its release on the 29th October.
Review by Rich Simpson (@richreadalot) October 2020