cover image Hans Christian Andersen's the Snow Queen

Hans Christian Andersen's the Snow Queen

Hans Christian Andersen. HarperCollins Publishers, $14.95 (117pp) ISBN 978-0-06-023694-6

Le Gallienne invests her latest translation of Andersen's classics with the lyricism, humor and animation that grace her versions of The Nightingale, The Little Mermaid and Seven Tales. Zeldich's paintings glow with colors that emphasize the feelings in the shifting scenes and endear the fairy tale's quaint mortals to the reader. The little children, Kai and Gerda, are inseparable companions until the Snow Queen casts a spell over the boy and takes him flying to her icy kingdom in the sky. All the world is gray and sad to Gerda, mourning for her lost friend. Through a succession of unlikely helpers, however, she passes many tests of courage, reaches Kai in time to save him from prison, and they return to Earth, proving that abiding love can conquer demons. (All ages)