I would suggest two different ways of getting to know Mr. Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish storyteller who gave us the timeless tales of The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor’s New Clothes, and many more favorites. First, watch the movie Hans Christian Andersen, starring Danny Kaye as Mr. Andersen. It’s a fictional treatment of Andersen’s life, of course, complete with music, song, and dance, but it’s a lovely introduction to the man and his storytelling.

Then second, I recommend the biography for young people, Hans Christian Andersen, Immortal Storyteller by Elizabeth Rider Montgomery. Published by Garrard publishing, the biography is only 138 pages long and it’s written for children, but as a brief introduction to the storyteller and dramatist’s life, this little book is a gem.

Did you know that Andersen himself thought very little of his famous book Fairy Tales Told for Children. He called them “a mere sleight-of-hand with Fancy’s golden apples.”

As for the fairy tale stories themselves, there are all sorts of editions, collections, illustrations, and other versions nowadays of Andersen’s fairy tales. I like this version of The Snow Queen by Amy Ehrlich, illustrated by one of my favorite artists, Susan Jeffers. This edition of Thumbelina, illustrated by Elsa Beskow, is lovely, too. I also have in my library individual volumes of the following tales: The Buckwheat, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, A Gift for Hans, It’s Absolutely True, The Snowdrop, The Brave Tin Soldier, The Nightingale, The Traveling Companion, and What the Old Man Does Is Always Right, plus a couple of collections of Mr. Andersen’s stories.

To read most of Andersen’s 168 tales online in English, you can go to this Andersen website.

My children used to watch this version of The Ugly Duckling in the series Timeless Tales on VHS tape. I wish I had a video or at least a sound recording of my youngest singing this song plaintively and mournfully when she was about three years old. It was indeed timeless.