“The Little Mermaid”, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “Thumbelina”, “The Snow Queen”… these are but a few of Andersen’s tales that I never forget. Andersen, with his colloquial style, repetition of ‘and’, and unique voice, wrote some of the most wonderful stories I’ve ever read. His stories evoke images of incredible beauty that make you see little objects anew:

            “Then suddenly the door flew open, and the draught of air caught the dancer, and she flew like a sylph just into the stove to the tin soldier, and flashed up in a flame, and she was gone.”

This fragment, from "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", shows the little paper ballerina as she falls into the fireplace and dies together with the tin soldier. The events occur quickly, very quickly, but for a tiny moment she dances perfectly “like a sylph”, a spirit of the air.

Andersen’s bittersweet endings are also full of incredible beauty: who can forget the Little Match Girl who goes happily to heaven with her grandmother but is found frozen on the street?

Whenever I read one of Andersen’s tales, I remember that these stories are sorrowful, meaningful, and beautiful.

(You can explore with me these stories in my lesson Introduction to Hans Christian Andersen.)