The Classics: Tales from Hans Christian Andersen

The Classics: Tales from Hans Christian Andersen by Naomi Lewis, illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark (Frances Lincoln)

HC RRP $27.95

ISBN 9781847805102

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Nine of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales are translated by Naomi Lewis for a general ageless audience. Classic tales of incredible imagination and beauty transport the reader into a child’s world, and simultaneously an adult’s world where messages lay hidden and lessons await to be learnt. They come presented in a beautiful gift edition.  Stunning illustrations are by popular English children’s author and illustrator Emma Chichester Clark who studied graphic design before she studied book illustration under Quentin Blake.

This excellent collection contains some well known tales such as The Nightingale, The Little Match Girl, The Princess and the Pea, The Shepherdess and the Chimneysweep, The Happy Family, and The Money Box Pig.  Two rare ones included are Elf Hill and Little Ida’s Flowers, although I confess I have read the last one before.

Entering Andersen’s stories is like entering a magical cave filled with valuable objects. You don’t know what you will discover. Nor can you choose a favourite thing for everything is priceless. This will be enjoyed by the junior reader or for a younger audience to be read to and shared. Look out for its companion collection of Tales from Grimm, retold by Antonia Barber.