Hans Christian Andersen was the profoundly imaginative writer and storyteller who revolutionized literature for children. He gave us the now standard versions of some traditional fairy tales - with an anarchic twist - but many of his most famous tales sprang directly from his imagination. The thirty stories here range from exuberant early works such as The Tinderbox and The Emperor s New Clothes through poignant masterpieces such as The Little Mermaid , The Little Match Girl and The Ugly Duckling , to more subversive later tales such as The Ice Maiden and The Dryad . Uniquely inventive and vivacious in style and with deep insight into children s points of view, Andersen established a new genre in literature.This is the classic translation by Jean Hersholt and is illustrated by various artists, with an afterword by Ned Halley.Designed to appeal to the booklover, Macmillan Collector s Library is a series of beautifully bound hardback gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector s Library are books to love and treasure.