Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales
Retold by E. Jean Robertson
Published by Schocken Books (1979)
Reading Level: Ages 9-12 years
Pages: 264
Genre: Fairy Tales
Summary: The first tale I read was called the "Tinder-box", it was about a soldier that went down a hole in a tree for an old lady, while he was in the tree he retrieved precious for himself and a tinder-box for the lady, but decides to keep it. he later learn he can use the tinder-box to summon magical dogs that will do his bidding. He uses them to get rich and to see a princess that's been kept from the world by overprotective parents. The king and queen find out and put him in prison but he uses the tinder-box to summon a dog, who kills the king and queen and the royal judges and counselors. The people all ask the soldier to become king.
The next tale was "The swineherd". It was about a prince that was in love with a princess and he sends her simple presents, but she rejects them. So the prince disguises himself and gets a job in that kingdom as a swineherd. He makes neat items that the princess sees and wants, but the swineherd will only sell them for kisses from the princess, and the price gets steeper every time. The emperor finds out and kicks them both out. Princess regrets not marrying the prince, so the swineherd reveals that he is the prince, but the prince rejects her.
"The Princess and the Pea" is about a prince that wants to marry a princess. One stormy night a girl comes to the castle looking a mess and claims to be a princess. To test that she was a true princess the queen makes her sleep on 40 mattresses that had a pea underneath them all. The princess slept poorly and woke up black and blue. That was the test so they decided she was real princess and let her marry the prince.
The last tale I read was "The Nightingale". This story was about a Chinese emperor that learns of a nightingale that has the sweetest song. He has it brought to the palace to sing for him. He loves it and decides it should stay. Then the emperor gets a mechanical nightingale and the the whole court likes it and they shun the real nightingale. The fake nightingale breaks and shortly after the emperor is on his death bead, but the nightingale comes and sings the death spirits aways. The nightingale comes every night after that to sing to the emperor and no one in the court knows.
My Reaction: I liked them. I'm not as familiar with Anderson's tales as I am with other fairy tales, but I liked them.
Potential Problems: These stories include death and spirits.
Recommendations: I would recommend these stories to all children. I heard the tinder-box story when I was in fourth grade and loved it. They would be great to read aloud.
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