Illustration from The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Stephen Mitchell and Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline Published by Candlewick Press c2002

Can we see ourselves with eyes glued to our cell phones just as this Emperor is gazing fondly at his mechanical nightingale? Anybody warning us about being overly beguiled by things artificial today?

Andersen’s tales still have a place in our world, and young readers have many options for encountering them. There seems to be always a new collection of his fairy tales in the works and there are also the ballets, plays, and films inspired by them. I remember adoring Liza Minnelli as the true princess in Faerie Tale Theatre’s TV production of The Princess and the Pea. Good one to share with the grandchildren some evening…

I sold an inexpensive hardcover edition of” The Emperor’s New Clothes”, illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton at book fairs. You know Virginia Lee Burton from” Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel”, and” The Little House”. There is probably an edition of “The Little Mermaid” for every taste and budget. My favorite collection is “Seven Tales by H.C Andersen” translated from the Danish by Eva Le Gallienne with pictures by Maurice Sendak. published in 1959. I have the 1991edition by Harper Trophy.

Illustration from “The Princess and the Pea” by Maurice Sendak from “Seven Tales by H.C. Andersen”

“The Ugly Duckling” was an important story to me as a child. I played that part in a school play, think the teacher sensed I needed to have the hope of a swan transformation in my future. Hans Christian Andersen’s tales are good companions. He put life in inanimate objects, and gave those lives meaning. A collection of his stories IS a home library essential.