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I’m familiar with Hans Christian Andersen because of The Little Mermaid, and I remember reading his version and being incredibly bummed out. I imagine Andersen to be a live-action Eeyore, which is why I was surprised by how lively and beautiful The Nightingale is. There is a sad wistful to the story, but that is to be expected with Andersen.

The Nightingale is incredibly readable, especially for young children, but Andersen is still smart about the writing. It’s really tightly and cleverly written. I particularly enjoy how he points out how ridiculous the king and his court are without being mean about it. When the courtier is following the little girl, he has no sense of what a nightingale would sound like. I really like the entire arch of the story. Definitely a great short story by Andersen. I would love to see an illustrated version of this. I’m sure there’s great potential for beautiful artwork.