About This Book
Reach for this book when your child is beginning to ask deep questions about sacrifice, unrequited love, or the concept of a soul. Unlike modern adaptations, this classic retelling explores the profound weight of choosing someone else's happiness over your own. It is an essential choice for children navigating the bittersweet reality that things do not always turn out as planned, yet beauty can still be found in one's choices and character. This version by Linda Newbery maintains the haunting, ethereal quality of the original Hans Christian Andersen tale. It introduces themes of longing, mortality, and spiritual transcendence, making it a powerful tool for building emotional depth. While it contains moments of sadness, it serves as a gentle bridge to discuss resilience and the idea that our actions define us more than our circumstances do.
