The Little Match Girl

Hans Christian Andersen (1805–75) was born in Odense, Denmark. The son of a poor shoemaker, who nonetheless was a great reader, made a toy theater for his son and taught him to notice every natural wonder as they walked in the woods together on Sundays. His father died when he was 11, and it wasn’t until six years later that, with the help of a patron, he finally went to a state secondary school attended by much younger children. There he suffered at the hands of a cruel headmaster, but he acquired an education and was determined to be a writer. He published his first novel and his first fairy tales in 1835; thereafter he wrote over 150 more of these stories which have become classics in many languages. Although he originally addressed his fairy tales to children (and some would maintain he had a streak of childhood in his nature) he insisted they were “for all ages,” and the gentleness and humor that are their characteristics are recognized by everyone.

JERRY PINKNEY was one of America’s most acclaimed illustrators. He won the Caldecott Medal, five Caldecott Honors, five Coretta Scott King Awards, five Coretta Scott King Honors, five New York Times Best Illustrated Awards, the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the Society of Illustrators’ Original Art Show Lifetime Achievement Award, and many other prizes and honors. His long list of celebrated titles includes Mirandy and Brother Wind, The Little Red Hen, The Little Match Girl, and The Lion & The Mouse. His family includes a number of acclaimed children’s book creators: his son, artist Brian Pinkney; his daughter-in-law, author and children’s book editor Andrea Davis Pinkney; and his granddaughter, author-illustrator Charnelle Pinkney Barlow.Jerry Pinkney passed away on October 20, 2021 at the age of 81.