The Emperor's New Clothes

by Hans Christian Andersen Narrated by Olga Makina

Overview

The Emperor's New Clothes is written by Hans Christian Andersen. Two swindlers arrive at the capital city of an emperor who spends lavishly on clothing at the expense of state matters. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are stupid or incompetent. The emperor hires them, and they set up looms and go to work. A succession of officials, and then the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

John Alfred Rowe (Monkey Trouble) takes his accomplished paintbrush to Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes. The rosy cheeked, rotund potentate is attended to by an elite troupe of mime-ish monkeys, their noses as high as their yellow bowties; the hucksters are depicted as roguish foxes with a pirate-like patch and swagger. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Duntze embroiders the classic story with exquisite visual details; her lanky, angular people with a jaundiced glow add a playfully sinister note. Ages 5-8. (Apr.)

Kirkus Reviews

From Lewis (The Steadfast Tin Soldier, 1992, etc.), a plucky new treatment of the familiar tale. Here the emperor, everyone's favorite sartorial obsessive, is a preWW I dandy, but he is the same chump as always, duped by the two prankster weavers. Their cloth, "invisible to anyone who was unfit for his job or particularly stupid," has all the court's self-important retainers and grandees in a swivet: They can't see the cloth but dare not admit it in fear of being branded an incompetent or a fool. The ruse goes all the way to the top, to the emperor's self-doubts and conventionality, and his absurd procession: When exposed for the clown he is by a child's shout, the emperor remains calm" `If I stop, it will spoil the procession. And that would never do.' So on he stepped, even more proudly than before." The translation is fine and sure, and Barrett's artwork is splendid, full of lively vignettes and early-20th-century details, complete with a company of wise dogs and the impeccably expressive faces of bystanders.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175879644
Publisher:	Ririro
Publication date:	09/03/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

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