Week 13 Reading Diary A: Hans Christian Andersen

The Princess and the Pea: I was expecting this story to be unlike the original that I had heard since I was little. I think it's crazy that she was able to feel a pea under twenty mattresses! I can relate to the princess because I am unable to sleep that well unless I have just the right amount of pillows and blankets. I hope that she wasn't mad that the queen and the prince wanted to make sure that she was a real princess by possibly causing her to sleep terribly! I think a great Storytelling post for this week would be to tell a story about how someone couldn't sleep well unless they were at home.

("The Princess and the Pea" by Hans Christian Andersen (1872), illustration by Edmund Dulac)

The Emperor's New Suit: I was also expecting this story to be different from the version I have heard my whole life. I hate how the swindlers charged the emperor all of this money only to not give him any new clothes at all. I thought that was so rude that they used him! It seemed that all of the people in town couldn't see the new clothes so they were being tricked as well! I think a good Storytelling post for this week would be to tell a story about these two people who made a scam and tricked everyone in town. However, one of the citizens was brave enough to turn them in!

The Brave Tin Soldier: I had actually never heard of this story until now. I now know why I had never heard of it before. This story was incredibly sad. I thought it was going to have a happy ending when the soldier found out that he was back in the same home that he had lived his whole life. I thought it was also sad that the little dancer melted into flames as she tried to save the tin soldier. This story reminded me of Romeo and Juliet because I believe that the dancer and the tin soldier were star-crossed lovers as well.