The Little Match Girl

by Hans Christian Andersen Narrated by Olga Makina

Overview

The Little Match Girl is a fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen.

On a freezing New Year's Eve, a poor young girl, shivering and barefoot, tries to sell matches in the street. Afraid to go home because her father will beat her for failing to sell any matches, she huddles in the alley between two houses and lights matches, one by one, to warm herself. However, the girl is ignored by passersby as no one buys from her, leaving her to suffer alone in the cold weather.

In the flame of the matches, she sees a series of comforting visions: the warm iron stove, the lovely roast goose, the great glorious Christmas tree. Each vision disappears as its match burns out. In the sky she sees a shooting star, which her late grandmother had told her means someone is on their way to Heaven. In the flame of the next match she sees her late grandmother, the only person that ever treated her with love and kindness. To keep the vision of her grandmother alive as long as possible, the girl lights the entire bundle of matches.

When the matches are gone the girl freezes to death, and her grandmother carries her soul to Heaven. The next morning, passers-by find the girl's body with a smile on her face, and express pity. They do not know about the wonderful visions she had seen, or how happy she is with her grandmother in Heaven.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

The familiar tale is paired with startling modernist illustrations that strip the sentimentality so often associated with it in favor of a more purely intellectual response. The text, in the form of Bell's graceful translation, appears on the left-hand page, with Pacovska's stark collages filling up the page opposite-and frequently interposing one or more wordless double-page spreads in between pages of text. The result is not a conventional picture book, or even an illustrated story, but more of a narrative that dances back and forth between text and image, rarely allowing the reader to experience both at the same time. Many images rely on the visual similarity between a book of matches and a packet of crayons, their many-colored heads translating to spots or scribbles on the page. Foil is used sparingly and effectively, forming windows and cutlery as the Match Girl imagines herself inside and warm, and the night sky as a shooting star-cum-paintbrush streaks across the page. Young readers will find themselves challenged by these highly unconventional images, which will in turn help them to challenge their understanding of a highly conventional tale. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6+)

Midwest Book Review

"Exquisite artistry...A beloved and ultimately inspiring Christmas tale presented in a simply beautiful edition, The Little Match Girl is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to family, elementary school, and community library Christmas themed picture book collections."  
 

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176977547
Publisher:	Ririro
Publication date:	09/16/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

Read an Excerpt

It was nearly nightfall. The shoeless orphan girl blinked away thick white snowflakes falling in her eyes. Everyone in the great city was bundled and busy, heads down, eyes fixed on the black cobblestones peeking up through packed snow. A passing wagon spewed freezing slush across the child's loosely wrapped feet. Out of the way, its wheels grumbled. But the shivering girl was not afraid and did not step back. She stood silently, holding out all she had in the world—a bundle of wooden matches—saved for selling this Christmas Eve.

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