cover image The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen

The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), $30 (293pp) ISBN 978-0-618-22456-2

Collections of children's classics pay homage to the best of children's literature, folk and fairy tales. Timeless tales continue to thrill each new generation in The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen: A New Translation from the Danish, selected and translated by Diana Crone Frank and Jeffrey Frank, including original illus. by Vilhelm Pedersen and Lorenz Frolich. A brief biography of Andersen introduces 22 stories, including ""Thumbelisa"" (aka Thumbelina) about a tiny girl no bigger than one's thumb; ""The Little Mermaid,"" probably Andersen's best-known story, but with its original dark ending; and of course ""The Ugly Duckling"" who grows into a beautiful swan.