About the Author

Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, in 1805. At the age of 14 he went to Copenhagen to become an actor. He failed and instead went back to school, where he was very unhappy. He published his first book, an account of a walking trip in 1829. From then on he wrote many books, finding his true voice in his original fairy stories, which often had their basis in his life. He died in 1875.