Fairy Tales

With this new translation and selection, the unique inventiveness of Andersen’s genius is revealed. At a time when children’s stories were formal, moral and didactic, Hans Christian Andersen revolutionized the genre, giving an anarchic twist to traditional folklore and creating a huge number of utterly original stories that sprang directly from his imagination. From the exuberant early stories such as The Emperor’s New Clothes , through poignant masterpieces such as The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling , to the darker, more subversive later tales written for adults, the stories included here are endlessly experimental, both humorous and irreverent, sorrowful and strange.