Some of Andersen's best-loved tales, perceptively introduced by Philip (The Snow Queen, 1989), who treats them as high literature, never forcing them into ready-made formulas. Grandly ornamental art-deco borders in gold and azure give the book a distinctively handsome appearance and frame illustrations obviously inspired by, and sometimes simply copied from, Gustav Klimt. The pictures tend to the mediocre: banal-looking animals, stiff people, and sketchy landscapes. The few that succeed--of swans rising above the water, or of an icy Snow Queen--have gorgeous ornamental backgrounds. For Philip's phrasing and presentation, this is a worthy volume; young listeners won't mind the pictures, and older readers will be too engrossed in the stories themselves to notice. (Fiction. 5+)
