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The world recently celebrated International Children’s Book day. Unsurprisingly the day chosen to “inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children's books” is April 2nd; birthday of the “Father of the Modern Fairy Tale,” Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen’s stories have entertained generations of readers young and old throughout the world. Tales such as The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling and The Snow Queen are a mere sampling of the 212 fairy tales published during his lifetime and posthumously. AuthorHouse combines celebrating International Children’s Book Day and Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday by looking at some of the qualities that made him such an endearing and enduring storyteller. He Wrote About What He Knew
Although Andersen is most famously known for his fairy tales, he also wrote plays, novels, poems, travel books, and several autobiographies. He did not actually pen his first fairy tale until he was aged 29. His first passion was to become an actor and he had a beautiful singing voice as a teenager. These ambitions moulded a great portion of his work. Andersen’s own life has been likened to that of his Ugly Duckling, who is born humbly amongst the ducks yet blossoms into a swan. Born the son of a poor cobbler he became a rich man, famous throughout the world. He suffered a great deal on his journey to fame and wealth. It is these experiences he draws upon in his fairy tales which, when read in their original versions, are far more sophisticated than just mere children's fables. His personal struggles with his peers and idols during his formative years are recorded as a commentary on human nature and the society to which he was subjected. Sometimes this manifests itself as optimism, where goodness and beauty triumph, or pessimism, where the end is inevitable. In either instance, Andersen identifies with the downtrodden and oppressed. The fact that he is remembered as a storyteller who has made the world smile by drawing on his own tumultuous experiences is testament to his status as a literary master craftsman. He Appealed to Parents while Entertaining Children
What do J.K. Rowling, cartoonist Matt Groening and Roald Dahl have in common? Yes, they all write stories for children, correct. But think about the characters and stories they are famous for; Rowling’s Harry Potter, Groening’s Bart Simpson and any one of Dahl’s characters, like Willie Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate factory. One of the greatest factors attributing to the success of these characters is that they appeal to adults as well as children. Parents enjoy reading about them at bedtime or watching their cartoons on TV just as much as their children do. And this is no accident. They, along with many other successful writers of children’s tales, employ a technique pioneered by Hans Christian Andersen. His stories can be read simply as magical flights of fancy designed for children, but the more discerning reader will also delight in the comedy, social commentary, satirical critiques and philosophical reasoning skilfully layered into his work. "I seize on an idea for grown-ups and then tell the story to the little ones while always remembering that Father and Mother often listen, and you must also give them something for their minds." In this first part of our AuthorHouse Hans Christian Andersen Writing Master Class we discussed how he wrote about what he knew and how he wrote to keep both children and parents entertained at the same time. In the second part of this AuthorHouse Writing Master Class, we will look at how Andersen harnessed his passion for writing and the power of self-publishing to launch his career.
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