These fairy tales follow children, rulers, animals, and everyday objects through strange adventures. In one tale, a child points out that an emperor's splendid new clothes do not exist.
199 pages 3h 52m reading time
Among the most widely translated and best-loved collections of stories for children in the world.
Shows that people often pretend to see what they are told to see, and that it can take an honest outsider to speak the plain truth.
Imagines that outcasts and the overlooked, like a poor match girl or a fir tree that longs for something more, have inner lives worth our pity and respect.
Gave English the everyday phrase "the emperor's new clothes" for an empty pretense that no one dares to name.
Inspired countless retellings in ballet, opera, and film, including Disney's "Frozen," which grew out of "The Snow Queen."
Last-minute new ending
The child who shouts that the emperor is naked was added only after the story reached the printer.
Borrowed from old Spain
The emperor tale came from a medieval Spanish story, where swindlers claim only true sons can see the cloth.
Heard as a boy
Several early tales retell folk stories Andersen heard from old women as a boy in Odense.
Critics disliked them first
Danish critics first scolded the tales for their chatty, spoken style and for lacking clear moral lessons.
