The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Hans Christian Anderson: A classic story of love and devotion retold by Adrian Mitchell, illustrated with wood cuts by Jonathan Heale.
Written by Hans Christian Anderson, retold by Adrian Mitchell, illustrated by Jonathan Heale. First American edition, 1996. Dorling Kindersley, publishers.
Hans Christian Anderson wrote The Steadfast Tin Soldier from the heart, inspired by his own unrequited love for a dancer. Mitchell retells the story for modern readers, and Heale honors Anderson with his detailed, dramatic wood cuts.
A toy maker casts a set of 25 tin soldiers but runs low on tin and casts the last soldier with only one leg. Even so, the tin soldier maintains his dignity and courage. One day, he sees a ballerina standing en pointe and mistakenly believes that she too has only one leg, and that they were made for each other. In the end, the two toys are cast aside and end their lives as toys together.
"Five times five is twenty-five, and there were once twenty-five tin soliders. They were all brothers, for they'd all been made out of the same old melted-down tin spoon.
"Muskets on their shoulders, stiffly at attention, smart as paint in their red and blue uniforms.
"Twenty-five tin soldiers lying in their box. When the lid was opened, the first words they heard were "tin soldiers!" from a happy little, huge boy, clapping his hands on his birthday.
"Twenty-five tin soldiers. He stood them on a table in five lines of five. Every soldier was like all the other soldiers except for one. He was just a little different."
Adrian Mitchell was an accomplished English author, poet, and playwright.
https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/adrian-mitchell
Discover more of Jonathan Heale's beautiful wood cuts.
https://www.jonathanheale.co.uk/
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Nov 14, 2017
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