Swineherd

by Hans Christian Andersen

Overview

Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author best known for writing children's stories including "The Little Mermaid" and "The Ugly Duckling." But he didn't just write short stories, and his intended audience wasn't restricted to children. In addition to his fairy tales, Andersen wrote poems, plays, novels, travel books, essays, and more. He hungered for recognition at home (Denmark) and abroad-and he got it! Eventually. Today, his stories can be read in over one hundred languages. But no matter what language they're in, Andersen's tales have got something for everyone. In them, you'll find beauty, tragedy, nature, religion, artfulness, deception, betrayal, love, death, judgment, penance, and-occasionally-a happy ending. They're complex tales, but since Andersen himself was pretty complex, we like to think that art imitates life. Or something like that. Includes vintage illustration!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781530859870
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	04/02/2016
Pages:	28
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.07(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Lisbeth Zwerger lives in Vienna, Austria.

Date of Birth:

April 2, 1805

Date of Death:

August 4, 1875

Place of Birth:

Odense, Denmark

Place of Death:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Editorial Reviews

Andersen and Zwerger's Swineherd enchants with an uncharacteristically (for him) funny resolution, courtesy of Bell's graceful translation, and her characteristically ethereal illustrations. The classic tale tells of a minor prince whose beautiful gifts of a rose and a nightingale are disparaged and his proposal of marriage rejected by the emperor's daughter. Undeterred, the prince takes a job tending the emperor's pigs. The clever but lowly swineherd creates magical toys for which he demands and receives kisses from the princess as payment. For this transgression, the irate emperor kicks them both out of the kingdom. The prince reveals himself but instead of living happily ever after, he rejects the silly princess for her shallowness. Zwerger's subdued ink wash-and-watercolor paintings charmingly depict royalty in not-so-very grand fashion, the pigs providing energetic counterpoint to the swags and frills of courtly dress. An amusing reversal of the usual prince-in-disguise story. (Picture book/fairy tale. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews