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This collection of eighteen fairy tales from the work of Hans Christian Andersen is taken from Erik Haugaard's 1973 translation, The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories, and is illustrated by noted English artist Michael Foreman. It is a companion volume to a similar collection of tales from the Brothers Grimm, also illustrated by Foreman, The Brothers Grimm: Popular Folk Tales.

These are stories which usually require no introduction, whether it be the tale of a misfit duckling who discovers he is really a swan in The Ugly Duckling, or a tiny, inch-high girl who finds herself adrift in the wide world, in Inchelina. They range in length, from the epic, seven-chapter Snow Queen, to the two-page Princess and the Pea, and many of them are tinged by that peculiar melancholy which I always associate with Andersen.

Here we see the sad fate of The Little Match Girl, the doomed love of The Steadfast Tin Soldier and The Snowman, and the heart-breaking quest for a soul, undertaken by The Little Mermaid. In The Old House we find a reflection upon the passage of time and the strength of memory, and in The Nightingale we observe an emperor who discovers that costly jewels and clever machines cannot bring comfort to the sick bed.

Those readers who think of fairy tales as dealing with "happily ever after," will be surprised to discover that so many of Andersen's tales do not end well. The secular modern reader might also be somewhat taken aback at the religious tone of many of these stories, which deal with such concepts as the human soul, the nature of sin, and of divine punishment. I cannot say I always agree with their "theology" - the punishment in The Red Shoes seems a little extreme, and the notion that one obtains a soul through marriage to a man, as The Little Mermaid is advised to do, is absurd - but there is no question that Andersen's faith lends these tales emotional and intellectual depth.

Like The Brothers Grimm: Popular Folk Tales, I think this volume would make an excellent introduction to an important classic of world folk literature. Because it offers only a small selection of Andersen's 156 tales, it will not prove overwhelming for the very young child. Michael Foreman's art is humorous and eerie by turns, and is the perfect accompaniment. ( )