Hans Christian Andersen was the profoundly imaginative writer and storyteller who revolutionized literature for children. He gave us the now standard versions of some traditional fairy tales - with an anarchic twist - but many of his most famous tales sprang directly from his imagination. The thirty stories here range from exuberant early works such as `The Tinderbox` and `The Emperor`s New Clothes` through poignant masterpieces such as `The Little Mermaid`, `The Little Match Girl` and `The Ugly Duckling`, to more subversive later tales such as `The Ice Maiden` and `The Dryad`. This is the classic translation by Jean Hersholt.Illustrated by various artists, with an Afterword by Ned Halley.