Books by Hans Christian Andersen

© radiokafka/Adobe Stoc

International Children’s Book Day. Books for children of all ages

The spines of the books shown on our homepage today are the works of the 19th-century Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. His birthday today is the inspiration for International Children’s Book Day. Since 1967, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has used the occasion of Andersen’s birthday to encourage readers young and old to make time for reading. Hans Christian Andersen made time for writing: by some estimates, he crafted more than 3,000 fairytales – some based on stories he was told as a child. He also wrote poetry, novels and even travel books. What childhood favourite inspired your love of literature?