The Hans

Danish author Hans Christian Andersen created some of the world's most enchanting and suspenseful fairy tales for children. I highly recommend visiting Project Gutenberg to read the original versions of his stories which are a bit macabre and all the more thrilling. There are many, many adaptations of Andersen's stories. Here are a few of the best:

Andersen, H C, and Virginia L. Burton. The Emperor's New Clothes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1949.

(Virginia L. Burton also created the classic picture books Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, The Little House, and Katy and the Big Snow.)

Andersen, H C, and Rachel Isadora. The Little Match Girl. New York: Putnam, 1987. Child, Lauren, Polly Borland, and H C. Andersen. The Princess and the Pea in Miniature: After the Fairy Tale by Hans Christian Andersen. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2006.

Pinkney, Jerry, and H C. Andersen. The Ugly Duckling. New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1999.

ps. Did you know that Hans Christian Andersen was a talented paper cutter, too?

Brust, Beth W. The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1994.

Quack!

There are lots and lots of picture books about ducks. These are my favorites:

Waddell, Martin, and Helen Oxenbury. Farmer Duck. Cambridge, Mass: Candlewick Press, 1992.

Tafuri, Nancy. Have You Seen My Duckling? New York: Greenwillow Books, 1984.

McCloskey, Robert. Make Way for Ducklings. New York: Viking Press, 1941.

Flack, Marjorie, and Kurt Wiese. The Story About Ping. New York: Viking Press, 1933.

Pinkney, Jerry, and H. C. Andersen. The Ugly Duckling. New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1999.

ps. Today is the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, the originator of the Ugly Duckling story.