Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories, called eventyr in Danish or "fairy-tales" in English, express themes that transcend age and nationality.
Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling", and many more.
Gennady Spirin was born near Moscow in the former Soviet Union. His delicate watercolour illustrations echo the great masters of the Renaissance. Mr. Spirin has received four gold medals from the Society of Illustrators, the Golden Apple from the Bratislava International Biennale, First Prize at both the Bologna and Barcelona International Book Fairs, and has appeared on The New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year list four times. Mr. Spirin lives with his wife and three sons in New Jersey. Mr. Spirin's other works include, The Sea King's Daughter: A Russian Legend by Aaron Shepard, Once There Was a Tree by Natalia Romanova, and The Crane Wife by Odds Bodkin.
