Illustrated Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales (Illustrated Story Collections)

When I don't feel like facing reality or just need something to put me to sleep, I dive into the world of this book. I love the illustrations, as they are what I consider truly classic. The pictures, which look like magical paintings, nest among the paragraphs, and my mind smoothly drifts over the blend of text and visuals. The stories themselves are beautifully imaginative and just the right length for me. The book contains fairy tales which have many versions going around out there. I tend to prefer certain versions over others, and I am finicky over how tales are ended. I like fairy tales better when they are ended positively either in the sense of a happily ever after or in the sense of the character passing on a lesson learned from his mistakes. The versions of all the fairy tales, except one, presented in this book were wonderful and satisfactory to my taste. "The Little Mermaid" is the only story I found not quite to my satisfaction because it abruptly ended sadly while leaving out the moral shown in some of the tale's versions. Other than that, the stories are all beautiful, with endings that leave me feeling content when I close the book. There is a balance of stories with happy and tragic endings, so I can choose a story which fits my mood. This book is my escape from the real world.

I purchased this and two other Usborne illustrated fairy tale books for my 6 year old granddaughter to give her some fun reading for summer vacation. Upon seeing the books, she made a beeline to them and was thrilled to get them! The just right length stories are perfect for holding any child's attention and the illustrations are charming! She even took the book with her to dance recital to read before and after her dance routine . . . and heads for her book as soon as she gets up in the morning! You couldn't ask for a better book than that! Great purchase!

Traditional stories

Great collection of classic tales. Beautifully illustrated and the stories though different than the original versions are eloquently retold.

I grew up will all the stories from HC Andersen, I read them so my imagination was expanding. Now, my kids watch all the Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig etc... the only reason they know the princesses etc is from Disney Movies. It cannot beat reading the book.So I am looking for HC Andersend book that hopefully can entices my kids to read this and enjoy it as much as I did.The book arrived in good condition. The binding is vert well made. This is a very beautiful book. The illustration are great. I tried to read it to my 4 years old, unfortunately the way the strory was written is more for older kids, my 4 yrs old was not completely interested with this book.Nothing wrong with the book and the story, but it is more for older kids.Now, I am going to buy others such as the greek mythology, Grimm...

Great buy for parents to read to little ones and to encourage reading. As gift too. Get for kids pyjamas party get togathers to chillout before lights out.

The book is in Prime condition and a wonderful edition of the fairy tales with great illustration. Our new arrival will enjoy the stories

Usborne, as always, has the greatest keepsake type of books with beautiful covers, illustrations and stories!

De belles illustrations au début de chaque histoire (12) mais hélas très peu après. Dommage, pour les plus grands donc

The perfect sized book with wonderful illustrations in a comprehensible, modern English, retelling. It surpassed my expectations. The stories themselves are witty and fun.

Wonderful book

Bought for grandchildren so parent can read them stories.

Beautifully written and illustrated retellings of a selected few of the many fairy tales written by Hans Christian Anderson. Particularly impressed by the Little Mermaid, which is an antidote to the saccharine Disney version of the story. Too well done to be upsetting, but the darker side of fairy stories is at least present here. My daughter and I have read these again and again.