Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door
Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door
I’m about to tell you a story about me. And, while you’re reading it, it’s possible that you’ll figure something out long before I did.
There’s no use yelling at the page. I won’t hear you. You’ll just have to say to yourself, “Wow, that Andie Gladman sure is a dimwit.” Or you could use some other word like fool, nincompoop, dunce, ignoramus, moron, or thickhead. And there are plenty more words that apply here.
I’m actually reasonably smart. I get good marks in school and I like brainy games like Scrabble and chess. I’m just trying to put what happened into some kind of context. Because the question is, how could I have believed something that isn’t true?
That’s what I have been asking myself. I might just leave it up to you to come up with an answer.
Meaford, Ontario resident Andie Gladman is surprised when a very tall man moves into the empty house next door to her. When he puts his initials (H. C. A.) on his mailbox, she becomes convinced he is author Hans Christian Andersen. Over the course of the next few weeks, H.C.A. and Andie become friends of sorts; he answers her many questions about his stories, and she composes poetic reactions to some of the more famous tales. Eventually she convinces him to accompany her to school for Career Day, which proves to be predictably embarrassing for all involved.
Fagan’s appealing beginning chapter book taps into the trusting naivete of many primary aged children and the wish to believe in fairy tales held by many. More sophisticated readers may have trouble accepting that someone as with it as Andie has no idea that Hans Christian Andersen has been dead for years, but they will enjoy her poetic reactions to stories such as “The Little Match Girl”, “The Princess and the Pea” and others. Andie’s budding friendship with classmate Newton and the somewhat predictable reformation of bully Myrtle Klinghoffer add satisfying subplots to the main narrative. Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door makes a good choice for newly independent readers and fairy tale aficionados.
Kay Weisman is a former youth services librarian at West Vancouver Memorial Library and the author of If You Want to Visit a Sea Garden. (www.cmreviews.ca/node/1693)