Showing results for "Hans Christian Andersen" in Historical Fiction

"The Emperor's New Clothes" is one of the most famous tales by Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a situation where "no one believes, but everyone believes that everyone else believes". An emperor whose only interest in life is fashion meets two weavers. They claim to be able to make him a new suit with special fabric, invisible to those who are unfit for their positions. What follows is a tale of embarassment, and a valuable lesson about society as a whole.

A heart-wrenching story about a poor little girl forced to sell matches on Christmas Eve. As she stumbles barefooted into a cold and lonely alley, she is enchanted by visions of Christmas wonders and her beloved grandmother long passed. "The Little Match Girl" is a tale that makes us all grateful for what we have this holiday season.

Few winter stories are more affecting than Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl. Written in 1848, and strictly speaking a New Year's Eve story, it showed so clearly then, as it does now, that the Christmas holidays do not represent fireside, food and presents for all. This story never fails to move, yet it somehow avoids serious sentimentality.