Books

The Fairy Tales Of Hans Christian Andersen Review

• 18th Nov 2013

Editor: Noel Daniel

Taschen released an illustrated book on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm a couple of years back, edited together by Noel Daniel. The boom comprised a select of some of their best writings, and a variety of illustrations by various artists who had contributed work over time.

Here, Daniel is back again to do a similar job for the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Again the work by two dozen artists has been picked to complete this volume.

Titles such as The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid and The Princess And The Pea Clothes are just a few of the tales picked for this book (Which will sit nicely together with the Grimm Brothers book as well shoppers!).

Anyone familiar with the tales can look in awe at the colourful scenes picked by the editor and created by the artists that illuminate the words Anderson got down on page.  There is the occasion however where you think they are missing ut on golden opportunities at key moments of certain tales . One for debate may be The Emperor’s New Clothes and not seeing the final humiliation (but then perhaps some things are best left to the imagination).

It is also worth noting the book comes with a decent introduction, but after the tales there is a lengthy biography section on each of the artists selected. A fine addition to Taschen’s fairy tale series; and one that will hopefully grow; This would make an excellent gift at this time of year, or just a decent shelf filler for fans of the material.

Steven Hurst