H. C. Andersen

A little sea princess, longing to be human, trades her mermaid's tail for legs, hoping to win the love of a prince and earn an immortal soul for herself.

After being accidentally launched on a dangerous and terrible voyage, a one-legged soldier finds his way back to his true love--a paper dancing girl.

A girl no bigger than a thumb is stolen by a toad and subsequently has many adventures and makes many animal friends, before finding the perfect mate in a warm and beautiful southern land.

A tiny girl no bigger than a thumb is stolen by a great ugly toad and subsequently has many adventures and makes many animal friends, before finding the perfect mate in a warm and beautiful southern land.

Although he hates their poor poetry, a frog king agrees to let two flattering scoundrels create an outfit for him that will show off his fine, long, strong legs and test the loyalty of his subjects.

An ugly duckling spends an unhappy year ostracized by the other animals before he grows into a beautiful swan.

Ming Da is only nine years old when he becomes the emperor of China, and his three advisors take advantage of him by stealing his stores of rice, gold, and precious stones. But Ming Da has a plan. With the help of his honest tailors, he comes up with a clever idea to outsmart his devious advisors: He asks his tailors to make "magical" new clothes for him. Anyone who is honest, the young emperor explains, will see the clothes' true splendor, but anyone...

An illustrated retelling of eight classic fairy tales, emphasizing the lesson to be learned from each.