Hans Christian Andersen

Thumbelina Hans Christian Andersen

Publisher Marketing: "Thumbelina" (Danish: Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Traveling Companion" in the second installment of Fairy Tales Told for Children. "Thumbelina" is about a tiny girl and her adventures with appearance- and marriage-minded toads, moles, and cockchafers. She successfully avoids their intentions before falling in love with a flower-fairy prince just her size. "Thumbelina" is chiefly Andersen's invention, though he did take inspiration from tales of miniature people such as "Tom Thumb." "Thumbelina" was published as one of a series of seven fairy tales in 1835 which were not well received by the Danish critics who disliked their informal style and their lack of morals. One critic, however, applauded "Thumbelina." The earliest English translation of "Thumbelina" is dated 1846. The tale has been adapted to various media including song and animated film. Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark on 2 April 1805 to Hans Andersen, a shoemaker, and Anne Marie Andersdatter. An only and a spoiled child, Andersen shared a love of literature with his father who read him The Arabian Nights and the fables of Jean de la Fontaine. Together, they constructed panoramas, pop-up pictures, and toy theatres, and took long jaunts into the countryside. Andersen's father died in 1816, and from then on, Andersen was left to his own devices. In order to escape his poor, illiterate mother, he promoted his artistic inclinations and courted the cultured middle class of Odense, singing and reciting in their drawing-rooms. On 4 September 1819, the fourteen-year-old Andersen left Odense for Copenhagen with the few savings he had acquired from his performances, a letter of reference to the ballerina Madame Schall, and youthful dreams and intentions of becoming a poet or an actor. After three years of rejections and disappointments, he finally found a patron in Jonas Collin, the director of the Royal Theatre, who, believing in the boy's potential, secured funds from the king to send Andersen to a grammar school in Slagelse, a provincial town in west Zealand, with the expectation that the boy would continue his education at Copenhagen University at the appropriate time. At Slagelse, Andersen fell under the tutelage of Simon Meisling, a short, stout, balding thirty-five-year-old classicist and translator of Virgil's Aeneid. Andersen was not the quickest student in the class and was given generous doses of Meisling's contempt. "You're a stupid boy who will never make it," Meisling told him. Meisling is believed to be the model for the learned mole in "Thumbelina." Fairy tale and folklorists Iona and Peter Opie have proposed the tale as a "distant tribute" to Andersen's confidante, Henriette Wulff, the small, frail, hunchbacked daughter of the Danish translator of Shakespeare who loved Andersen as Thumbelina loves the swallow; however, no written evidence exists to support the theory. Review Citations: Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 1191 (EAN 9780735822368, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2007 pg. 388 (EAN 9781596797567, Library Binding) Kirkus Review - Children 09/15/2004 pg. 920 (EAN 9780803728127, Hardcover) Booklist 09/15/2004 pg. 254 (EAN 9780803728127, Hardcover) School Library Journal 10/01/2004 pg. 108 (EAN 9780803728127, Hardcover) PW Notes and Reprints 11/01/2004 pg. 64 (EAN 9780803728127, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 11/01/2004 (EAN 9780803728127, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2005 pg. 21 (EAN 9780803728127, Hardcover) School Library Journal 06/01/1990 (EAN 9780887081149, Analog Audio Cassette) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/1991 pg. 443 (EAN 9780887080067, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1996 pg. 506 (EAN 9780887080067, Hardcover) School Library Journal 02/01/1986 (EAN 9780887080067, Hardcover) Kirkus Review - Children 08/01/2003 pg. 1011 (EAN 9780688174774, Library Binding) School Library Journal 09/01/2003 pg. 166 (EAN 9780688174774, Library Binding) Booklist 10/01/2003 pg. 323 (EAN 9780688174774, Library Binding) Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 12/01/2003 pg. 139 (EAN 9780688174774, Library Binding) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2003 pg. 28 (EAN 9780688174774, Library Binding) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2004 pg. 28 (EAN 9780688174774, Library Binding) Kirkus Review - Children 08/01/2003 pg. 1011 (EAN 9780688174767, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 08/18/2003 pg. 78 (EAN 9780688174767, Hardcover) School Library Journal 09/01/2003 pg. 166 (EAN 9780688174767, Hardcover) Booklist 10/01/2003 pg. 323 (EAN 9780688174767, Hardcover) Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 12/01/2003 pg. 139 (EAN 9780688174767, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2003 pg. 28 (EAN 9780688174767, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2004 pg. 28 (EAN 9780688174767, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 02/21/2000 pg. 89 (EAN 9780735812130, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2000 pg. 291 (EAN 9780735812130, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2001 pg. 554 (EAN 9780735812130, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2000 pg. 291 (EAN 9780735812130, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 799 (EAN 9780735812130, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 1191 (EAN 9780735812130, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 02/21/2000 pg. 89 (EAN 9780735812109, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2000 pg. 291 (EAN 9780735812109, Paperback) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2001 pg. 554 (EAN 9780735812109, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2000 pg. 291 (EAN 9780735812109, Paperback) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 799 (EAN 9780735812109, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1991 (EAN 9780679806677, Hardcover) School Library Journal 09/01/1990 (EAN 9780679806677, Hardcover) School Library Journal 04/01/1989 (EAN 9780396092414, Hardcover) School Library Journal 02/01/1992 pg. 70 (EAN 9780385414043, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1990 (EAN 9780385414043, Hardcover) Kirkus Review - Children 09/15/1997 pg. 1464 (EAN 9780385322515, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 10/06/1997 pg. 82 (EAN 9780385322515, Hardcover) - *Starred Review School Library Journal 09/01/1997 pg. 172 (EAN 9780385322515, Hardcover) New York Times 11/16/1997 pg. 57 (EAN 9780385322515, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/1997 pg. 58 (EAN 9780385322515, Hardcover) Booklist 11/15/1997 pg. 565 (EAN 9780385322515, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1998 pg. 53 (EAN 9780385322515, Hardcover) Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2001 pg. 422 (EAN 9780385322515, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1991 (EAN 9780385322515, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Andersen, Hans Christian Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish fairy tale writer and poet who is most noted for his Fairy Tales, including the enduring children's stories "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," and "The Ugy Duckling." Through his youth Andersen worked as a weaver's apprentice and actor before turning to writing. Andersen's works have been translated into more than 150 languages and have inspired countless films, plays, and ballets. Although Andersen died in 1875, the anniversary of his birthday (June 2) continues to celebrated each year as International Children's Book Day.