Other editions of book The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen

*Contains nearly 150 fairy tales, including the Emperor’s New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Match Girl, and other classics When the Brothers Grimm first published their collection of now famous fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was just 10 years old. But Andersen was destined to become a talented Danish author of fairy tales and children’s stories himself, writing popular stories like The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling. Andersen was extremely popular in his time, making friendships with royalty and writers like Charles Dickens while his works were translated into over 100 languages worldwide. Ironically, the work for which Andersen is best remembered was one of his least popular at first. In 1835, Andersen published his Fairy Tales for the first time, but they sold poorly, even while Andersen’s novel Only a Fiddler fared well.

Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author best known for writing children's stories including "The Little Mermaid" and "The Ugly Duckling." But he didn't just write short stories, and his intended audience wasn't restricted to children. In addition to his fairy tales, Andersen wrote poems, plays, novels, travel books, essays, and more. He hungered for recognition at home (Denmark) and abroad—and he got it! Eventually. Today, his stories can be read in over one hundred languages. But no matter what language they're in, Andersen's tales have got something for everyone. In them, you'll find beauty, tragedy, nature, religion, artfulness, deception, betrayal, love, death, judgment, penance, and—occasionally—a happy ending. They're complex tales, but since Andersen himself was pretty complex, we like to think that art imitates life. Or something like that. Swineherd The Emperor's New Clothes The Princess and the Pea The Snow Queen The Steadfast Tin Soldier The Tinder Box The Ugly Duckling The Wild Swans Thumbelina Includes vintage illustration!