Stories from Hans Christian Andersen

Eleven fairy tales by the master storyteller are retold in a voice that is fresh and inventive and yet always true to the spirit of Andersen. The jaunty, playful illustrations add to the fun, bringing out with humor and verve all the childlike aspects of the tales.

The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Andersen

A biography of the famous Danish writer of fairy tales, interspersed with excerpts from his stories.

The Tinderbox

With the help of a magic tinderbox given to him by a witch, a soldier finds a fortune and pursues a princess imprisoned in a castle, in an edition of a classic tale of dark adventure.

Pegasus, the Flying Horse

It is ancient Corinth. Young Ios and his father are off to buy the boy his first horse. Along the way they meet a beggar who tells them the story of a magical flying horse.

That horse, winged Pegasus, belonged to the goddess Athena. No mortal man had ever ridden him. But one man–the beggar said-desired to ride Pegasus more than anything else in the world. He was Bellerophon, a handsome young Corinthian who felt he was equal to any god.

With the story of Bellerophon’s ride goes the warning: “To fly too high is to fall too far.” And who knows this better than the beggar himself?