Book excerpt: In this second volume you will find a further 29 illustrated children’s stories by the master story-teller - Hans Christian Andersen. This present volume is the second of the selected stories from Hans Andersen. Together both books include what, out of a larger number, are the cream of Andersen’s “crop”. "The Ice Maiden", “The Little Mermaid” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes” set the standards for folklorists, authors and story-tellers worldwide and have all since become children’s classics. "The Sandhills of Jutland", another volume by Andersen, was pronounced by John Ruskin to be “the most perfect story” that he knew. The tales in this volume are: The Flax The Daisy The Pea Blossom The Storks The Wild Swans The Last Dream Of The Old Oak The Portuguese Duck The Snow Man The Farmyard Cock And The Weathercock The Red Shoes The Little Mermaid Buckwheat What Happened To The Thistle The Pen And The Inkstand The Teapot Soup From A Sausage Skewer What The Goodman Does Is Always Right The Old Street Lamp The Shepherdess And The Chimney Sweep The Drop Of Water The Swineherd The Metal Pig The Flying Trunk The Butterfly The Goblin And The Huckster Everything In Its Right Place The Real Princess The Emperor's New Clothes Great Claus And Little Claus The power of his tales to charm and elevate runs like a living thread through whatever he writes. In the two books, the first of which is presented here, they have met the tests and held an undiminishing popularity among the best children's books. They have set the standard, and their place in permanent literature will grow wider and more secure as time passes. Only a few children's authors will be ranked among the Immortals, and Hans Andersen is without a doubt one of them. It adds a charm to the little stories of these two volumes to know that the genial author travelled widely for a man of his time and everywhere he went he was urged to tell the tales himself. Even though he had become world famous, he did with equal measures of charm and grace in the kitchens of the humble and in the courts of nobles and palaces of kings. As was said in the preface to the first volume, wherever there are children, the stories of Hans Christian Andersen will be read and loved for a long time yet. 10% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities by the Publisher. =============== TAGS: Hans Andersen Fairy Tales, folklore, myths, legends, children’s stories, bedtime, fables, read, school children, homes, love to read, story-teller, imagination, sweet, sad, Flax, Daisy, Pea Blossom, Storks, Wild Swans, Last Dream, Old Oak, Portuguese Duck, Snow Man, Farmyard Cock, Weathercock, Red Shoes, Little Mermaid, Buckwheat, Thistle, Pen, Inkstand, Teapot, Soup, Sausage Skewer, Goodman, Right, Old Street Lamp, Shepherdess, Chimney Sweep, Drop Of Water, Swineherd, Metal Pig, Flying Trunk, Butterfly, Goblin, Huckster, Everything, Right Place, Real, Princess, Emperor's New Clothes, Great Claus, Little Claus