A picture book biography of Hans Christian Andersen blends lively writing, quotes from Andersen’s stories, and artful illustration and design. Yolen weaves revealing descriptions and details into her account of Andersen’s life. “Hans’ genius put him at the top of the class, his strangeness at the bottom,” she writes about awkward, gawky, seventeen-year-old Hans attending grammar school among children. Later, when he took the exam for university, she adds, “He was so nervous, his pen shook ink into the face of one of the examiners.” Each two-page spread of this well-designed volume includes a full-page painting by Dennis Nolan illustrating a scene from Hans’s life, and a detail illustration to accompany a quote from Andersen’s work. (Ages 6–9)

A biography of the famous Danish writer of fairy tales, interspersed with excerpts from his stories.