Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) is one of the best-loved tellers of fairy tales. He was born in Odense, Denmark, the son of a shoemaker. Despite the poverty of his early life he became a short-story writer, novelist and playwright. He is best known for his fairy tales, which were published between 1835 and 1872, and include The Red Shoes, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling.

Translated from the Danish by Misha Hoekstra. Misha has won several awards for his literary translations. He lives in Aarhus, where he works as a freelance writer and translator, in addition to writing and performing songs under the name Minka Hoist.

Lucie Arnoux is a keen storyteller, who likes to spend a lot of time on her illustrations, and in her illustrations. Originally from France, she graduated from Kingston University in Illustration & Animation. She has also illustrated In Their Shoes, published by Pushkin Children's.