The Snow Queen

A magic mirror in which good and evil are hideously distorted breaks, and its tiny pieces fly all over the world. One piece lodges in the eye of a little boy named Kay, transforming his vision. Another pierces his heart, turning it cold as ice. Kay’s playmate Gerda is shocked by the change in her friend, and becomes heartbroken when he disappears. A perilous journey to find Kay takes Gerda to a land locked in ice and snow, where she must outwit the powerful Snow Queen to rescue her beloved friend. The haunting illustrations capture all the mystery and magic of Andersen’s longest, most imaginative tale.

Publishers Weekly

Lewis's commanding translation of this Andersen classic rings with nobility even as it maintains a colloquial jauntiness. The famously gripping narrative, of tender-hearted Gerda's epic quest to rescue her friend Kay from the frozen realm of the Snow Queen, is respectfully and insightfully introduced by Lewis. She points out, for example, that, of all of Andersen's major tales, The Snow Queen is ``the most free from ill fortune, sorrow, unkind chance'' and that its protagonists ``make their own luck, good or bad, as they go''; and that it is the ``only great classic fairy tale in which every positive character is a girl or woman . . . while the victim to be rescued is a boy.'' Barrett (see review of Beware Beware , above) contributes gentle watercolor and pencil illustrations, evoking an ageless fairy-tale realm while a frisson of danger lingers beneath her flower-filled images. Pictures of icy wastes--a flurry of blue, white and violet--are especially striking. Inset illustrations and incidental art as well as full- and double-page pictures are interspersed throughout the very substantial text in an agreeable book design that accommodates the youngest members of the target audience. Ages 4-up. (Oct.)

Virginia Andersen (Coronado, CA) is a freelance author and writer who has written or contributed to nearly 25 books about PC-based applications, including many student tutorials and accompanying instructor manuals with exercise disks. Virginia is certified as a Microsoft Access MOUS Expert. She has over 25 years experience in computer science applications, analysis, and engineering - including extensive technical writing and editing. Her government and defense projects include lunar mapping, reliability engineering, undersea surveillance, weapon system interface simulation, and naval communications. Her civilian projects include computerized project management and horse race handicapping. She holds a M.S. in Systems Management, University of Southern California, an M.S. in Computer Science, University of Southern California and a B.S. Mathematics, Stanford University.

Bernadette Watts has loved to draw since her childhood in England. She created her first picture book under the influence of Beatrix Potter. Watts studied at the Maidstone Art School in Kent and is the illustrator of North South fairy tales The Snow Queen and The Ugly Duckling.

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was born in Odense, Denmark to a poor family. He left home as a 14-year-old to seek his fortune at the theatre in Copenhagen. Andersen began writing plays and poetry before he left for Copenhagen, but it was not until 1835 that he published the first of the fairytales that would bring him international renown. Since then, his over 200 fairytales have enjoyed undiminished popularity, providing the basis for favorite American interpretations such as Disney's The Little Mermaid.