The red shoes and other tales
(Graphic Novel)

The Red Shoes - A young girl named Karen was so poor that she had no shoes to walk in but she loved to dance. She would twirl on the ground in her bare feet. One day her mother died and a neighbor patched together some red cloth and made her some shoes to wear to her mother's funeral. Afterwards an aunt took her in and brought her some proper clothing. While shopping Karen saw some beautiful shiny red ballet shoes and a ballerina entering a theater. She longed to be like her and dance. The shopkeeper with devilish eyes got them for her exclaiming how they looked like they were made just for her. On the way home a wicked looking shoeshiner bowed before the shoes and offered to shine them for her. The shoes though beautiful were magical and Karen could not stop dancing no matter how she tried, not even when her aunt died and she happened upon the funeral. Her only resort to stop the dancing was to go to an executioner who usually chopped people's heads off, but she asked him to chop her feet off as she was exhausted from the dance she could not stop. He does the deed and she has no feet, but the shoes keep on dancing.

The Glass Case - A young boy lives in a home with an abusive father. One day he visits a museum with displays in the window. One was a figure named Molly. He thinks that she is glad to see him and she is. She talks to him and they form a real friendship. He stays so late that when his father sees him, he gives him a whack. He is so tired of the life he lives that he decided to run away and Molly wants to go with him. He doesn't know how they can pull it off. A surprise resolution ends the story.

The Little Match girl - A little girl is so poor and she is out in the cold and snow. She sells matches, but this day she has sold none and knows that her father will beat her if she comes home with no money. So she begins to light the matches one by one for a little warmth. Each match shows her something beautiful, but when it goes out, it disappears. With her last match she wishes to see her dead grandmother who loved her. When she strikes the match her grandmother appears and she begs to go with her. Her grandmother embraces her and they go up and up to a place where there was no cold, no fear, no hunger.