Summary: An Emperor in a far off land who was only concerned with clothes. He would spend all of his money given to him through taxes on clothes. One day two men showed up at the palace and showed the Emperor all these fine clothes they had made for kings and queens . They told him that they use special thread that is invisible to anyone who did not have enough intelligence. The emperor has them make him a new suit hoping to be able to tell who wasn't fit for office. They started working on the looms however no one could see anything on them. None of them spoke up because they didn't want to be seen as being unintelligent. After a month the emperor is getting very anxious. Later he himself goes to see the fine clothes woven for him. He himself can't see anything but he doesn't want to tell everyone he isn't fit to be emperor. He then knights the men who wove his clothes and says they will have a parade tomorrow and he will wear his new suit. All the people at the parade said how nice his clothes were as they didn't want them to seem unfit for their jobs. In the middle of the crowd a little boy spoke up and said the emperor isn't wearing any clothes. The emperor and everyone had been fooled.
The Red Shoes-
Summary- A girl named Karen is adopted by an old lady after her mother's death. She tricks her adoptive mother into buying her a pair of red shoes and wears them to church. Her adoptive mother becomes sick, but Karen leaves her and instead attends a party in her red shoes. Once she begins dancing, she can't stop. She cannot control them and they are stuck to her feet. The shoes continue to dance night and day. Her adopted mother dies and she can't even go to the funeral. An angel appears to her, saying she will dance until after she dies. Karen finds an executioner and asks him to chop off her feet. He does so and gives her a pair of wooden feet and crutches. Karen gets a job as a maid, but when Sunday comes she dares not go to church. Instead she sits alone at home and prays to God. Then she realizes that she can still feel warm when she prays.
The Ugly Duckling-
Summary- One of the baby ducks is perceived by the other ducks as a ugly duckling and suffers a lot of verbal and physical abuse. He leaves the barnyard and lives with wild ducks and geese until hunters kill the flocks. He then finds a home with an old woman but her cat and hen tease him and again he sets off on his own.Winter arrives and a farmer finds and carries the freezing little bird home, but the little duck is frightened by the farmer’s noisy children and once again leaves the house. He spends winter alone in the outdoors but, when spring arrives, he is welcomed into a flock of beautiful swans as he has become one of them.
Thumbelina-
Summary- A beggar woman gives a peasant's wife a barleycorn in exchange for food and Thumbelina emerges from its flower. One night, Thumbelina, sleeping in her walnut-shell cradle, is carried off by a toad who wants the small girl as a bride for her son. With the help of friendly fish and a butterfly, Thumbelina escapes the toad and her son, and drifts on a lily pad until captured by a stag-beetle. The insect discards her when his friends reject her company. When winter comes, She is given shelter by an old field-mouse. The mouse suggests Thumbelina marry her neighbor, a mole, but Thumbelina finds the idea of being married to him gross. She escapes the situation by running away with a swallow she nursed back to health during the winter. Thumbelina meets a tiny flower-fairy prince just her size and to her liking, and they get married. She gets a pair of wings to just like her husband.
Reaction: I really liked the simple language that Anderson uses in his fairy tales. There was no really gross things that he put into his stories and I liked that.
Recommendation: I would recommend these fairy tales to all ages. I think his are fit more for younger children than some of the other authors who have written fairy tales.
No comments:
Post a Comment