4 h 10 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the fairy tales you remember hold more longing, loneliness, and courage than you expect?
In Stories from Hans Andersen, Hans Christian Andersen brings you close to outsiders with powerful wishes. The Little Mermaid longs for the human world and a lasting soul. The Ugly Duckling leaves a farm where he finds no welcome. Their short, simple stories hold sharp thoughts about wanting a place where you belong.
The Emperor's New Clothes follows a ruler consumed by fine garments, while The Steadfast Tin Soldier faces danger with one leg and loves a paper dancer. In The Snow Queen, Gerda crosses the world to find Kai, whose heart a troll's mirror changes. These tales speak to children and adults differently, with sadness often close beside wonder.
What you’ll discover
- Longing beneath the waves Enter an ocean palace where the youngest sea princess dreams of a life beyond the water.
- The ache of not belonging Follow a mocked gray duckling as he leaves the farm to seek his place.
- Pride in fine clothes Meet an emperor whose love of garments leaves him open to being fooled.
- Courage on one leg Discover a toy soldier who stands firm through danger and loves a paper dancer.
- A friendship worth the journey Travel with Gerda as she sets out across the world to find Kai.
Who will love it
For parents who love reading aloud, adults revisiting Andersen’s tales as he wrote them, and anyone who enjoys fairy tales with a bittersweet edge, where wonder, sadness and humor meet.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A mermaid wants more than the sea
- An ugly duckling finds no welcome
- An emperor is fooled by his own pride
- A tin soldier stands firm on one leg
- A girl crosses the world for a friend
- What the tales mean and how they speak
Who’s who
- The Little MermaidThe youngest sea princess, curious and quiet, who longs for the human world and for a soul that will last.
- The Ugly DucklingA large gray chick who is mocked by everyone on the farm and sets out to find where he belongs.
- The EmperorA ruler so fond of fine clothes that he spends all his money and time on them.
- The Steadfast Tin SoldierA one-legged toy soldier who stands firm in every danger and loves a paper dancer.
- GerdaA brave little girl who sets out across the world to find her friend Kai.
- KaiGerda's friend, whose heart is changed by a splinter of a troll's mirror and who is taken away by the Snow Queen.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 4 h 10 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Contes d’Andersen
A sea princess seeks a human soul, a tin soldier faces danger, and a girl crosses the world to save a friend.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish writer who began publishing fairy tales in the 1830s and kept writing them for almost forty years. Some he took from folk stories he heard as a boy.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A mermaid wants more than the sea
The Little Mermaid begins in a palace at the bottom of the ocean. The sea king lives there with his old mother and his six daughters. The youngest is quiet and thoughtful, and she loves to hear about the world above the water.
Mermaids in this story live for three hundred years, but when they die they turn to foam and have no soul. Humans live a much shorter time, yet they have souls that go on after death. This is the idea that drives the whole tale. The youngest princess does not only want the land or a prince. She wants something that will last.
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What is Stories from Hans Andersen about?
It is a collection of fairy tales by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. The tales feature a mermaid, a duckling, a tin soldier, a vain emperor and a girl on a quest, and they mix wonder with sadness and humor.
Are Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales true stories?
No. Some come from old folk tales he heard as a child, but many he invented himself. He began publishing them in the 1830s, and he drew on his own life, especially his poor childhood, for feeling.
Are Andersen's fairy tales suitable for children?
Yes, they are written for children and are often read aloud. But they can be sad and serious, with loneliness, loss and danger, so younger children may like to hear them with a parent beside them.
The author
Hans Christian Andersen
1805–1875 · Danish fairy tale writer
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish writer and poet born in Odense, Denmark, in 1805. He moved to Copenhagen in 1819 and died there in 1875. He wrote fairy tales, novels, poems, plays, and accounts of his travels. His first collection of fairy tales appeared in 1835.
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