The Emperor's New Clothes: A Tale Set in China

By Demi and Hans Christian Andersen

Book Overview

Long ago in a province in China there lived an emperor whose greatest pleasure in life was to dress in new clothes. So begins Demi's retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a proud emperor who does not see what is obvious until he hears the truth from a child. Based upon several different translations of the original Danish story, Demi's tale is set in old provincial China. Filled with exquisite details, bright panoramas, and golden hues that leap off a wealth of fold-out pages, this story lures readers into a magical place and time. The story follows the four seasons of the year and is packed with visual elements of Chinese culture for readers to pore over for hours. Demi has captured in text and paintings all the majesty of China and all the magic that makes for the very best fairy tales. This elegant edition of a favorite story is sure to be cherished by all.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689830688
• ISBN13: 9780689830686
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Length: 42 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.6" x 9.8"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

A great book

My 6 year old loves this book! We first found it at the library and my child kept checking the book out so frequently that we bought it for her for Christmas. It's very hard to find locally.

Good version, beautifully illustrated

As a mother of a 28-month-old, I often feel that children's fairy tales should only be read by adults because such stories tend to be filled with objectionable levels of text and illustrations reflecting sexist, heterosexist, racist, violent and outright scary themes. (Despite Bettleheim's views on the uses of enchantment for children, I don't always agree that such content is useful or even benign for contemporary young children given the realities of today's American culture and media.) In order to familiarize our son for an upcoming children's musical theater production of The Emperor's New Clothes, I have been searching for the least objectionable of such books. I found 2 other versions that were barely passable but this one, by Demi, is not just passable but actually good. The illustrations are classic Demi (i.e. stunningly beautiful), including some fold-out 3 and 4 page panoramas. The text is straightforward, appropriately simple and clear but not wordy. This combination of stunning pictures and clear text make it a great read-aloud for toddlers and pre-schoolers and a beautiful book for adults to enjoy. The story is well-told with all the key plot elements included but without offending social-political sensitivies. Though I recognize that monarchies were just as objectionable in ancient China as they were in the Western world, the Chinese setting did help to make the story more palatable for my pro-democracy mind and it is nice to have a setting with exposure to a different culture as the incidental backdrop instead of being the obvious focus. I would highly recommend this book even if you don't have a particular event requiring a version of this classic tale.

A Chinese-style version of the classic tale.

Demi retells Hans Christian Anderson's tale of "The Emperor's New Clothes" with Chinese-style illustrations. Always a pleasure, her artwork in this book- bold compositions with bright colors and lots of "gold leaf"- is similar to that in many of her other books, such as "Kites: Magic Wishes That Fly in the Sky." Her use of Chinese symbols and imagery here is not as relevant here as it is in her "Kites" book; it merely provides a new twist to an old tale. The book has several fold-out spreads, which kids enjoy, but these are not integral to the story as they are in her magnificent book, "One Grain of Rice: A Mathmatical Folktale." The ending of Demi's version of this fairy tale is not quite satisfactory: we do not see the emperor embarrassed by his situation. Instead he obstinatly marches on, seeming without shame or remorse. In short, "The Emperor's New Clothes" is not Demi's best or most original work, but it is an attractive new version of a favorite story.