Who was Hans Christian Andersen?

Imagine starting with nothing and becoming one of the most famous storytellers in history! Today, Mira and Finn are diving into the magical life of Hans Christian Andersen! Born in Denmark over 200 years ago, Hans grew up so poor that he often struggled just to get by. People even told him he would never be a successful writer, but he didn't listen! He was just like his own character, the Ugly Duckling—he started out feeling out of place but grew into something spectacular! Did you know he wrote 'The Little Mermaid,' 'Thumbelina,' and 'The Snow Queen' (the story that inspired Frozen!)? His fairy tales are so beloved that they have been translated into more than 125 different languages and are read by kids all over the globe. In fact, International Children’s Book Day is celebrated on his birthday every single year! Get ready to travel back to 1805 to meet the man who proved that dreams really do come true, no matter where you start. It’s time for a fairy-tale adventure!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. Mira, I'm so excited because today is a massive global birthday celebration.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

It really is! Every year on April 2nd, the whole world celebrates International Children's Book Day, and there's a very specific reason why it's today.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Is it because someone super famous was born today? Like a storytelling superheroes?

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Exactly! Today, in 1805, a boy named Hans Christian Andersen was born in Denmark. You might not know his face, but I bet you know his monsters, mermaids, and ducks.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Wait, did he write the stories that billions of people know? Like more than the population of China and the US combined?

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Way more. His fairy tales have been translated into over 125 different languages. That's almost every major language on Earth.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

125 languages? I can barely speak one and a half. But he didn't start out famous, did he?

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Not even close, Finn. He started with absolutely nothing. Imagine growing up so poor that your house only had one tiny room for your whole family.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

One room? How small are we talking? Like the size of a garage? Smaller.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

It was about 15 square metres. That's like a medium-sized bedroom today, but it was their kitchen, bedroom, and workshop all in one.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

No way! How did he go from a tiny one-room house to being the king of fairy tales?

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It's a real-life, ugly duckling story, Finn! Hans was born in Odense, Denmark, on April 2nd, 1805. His dad was a shoemaker and his mum was a washerwoman.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

A washerwoman? Does that mean she just washed clothes all day in a freezing river?

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Exactly. She worked long hours in the cold water. They were so poor that Hans's first bed was actually made out of the wooden frame used to hold a coffin.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

A coffin frame? That is the spookiest bed ever. Did he have any friends to play with in his tiny room?

SPEAKER_01 2:10

He was a bit of a loner. He spent his time building a tiny puppet theatre. He made all the costumes himself, out of scraps of cloth his mum found.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

I love puppets. But I bet the other kids in Odense thought he was a bit strange, right? They did.

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Hans was very tall for his age, very thin, and had a big nose. In 1805, being different was hard. People teased him constantly.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

That's terrible. How many people lived in his town? Was it a big place?

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Odense had about 6,000 people back then. It was a small old-fashioned city. When Hans was 11, his father died and things got even tougher.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

So he was 11 and had no money and no dad. What did he do? Did he have to go to work in a factory?

SPEAKER_01 3:01

He tried. He worked in a cloth factory and a tobacco factory. But the other workers were mean to him because he liked to sing and perform like an actor.

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I bet he didn't stay there for long. He had big dreams, didn't he?

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Huge dreams! In September 1819, when he was just 14 years old, he decided to leave home and seek his fortune in the capital city, Copenhagen.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Copenhagen? How far was that from his home? Did he take a train? No trains yet, Finn.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

It was about a hundred miles away. He travelled by mail coach and boat. He only had 13 Rigsdaler in his pocket. That's like having about$50 today for a whole new life.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

13 coins? That's barely enough for a few pizzas. What happened when he got to the big city?

SPEAKER_01 3:52

It was a disaster at first. He went to the Royal Danish Theatre and tried to be a singer, but then his voice changed because he was growing up and they told him to go home.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

No! Did he give up and go back to the coffin bed?

SPEAKER_01 4:05

No way. He tried ballet, then acting, but he was so tall and clumsy that people literally laughed at him on stage.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

He was almost starving. That is so mean. Imagine being 15 or 16 and having the whole city laugh at you.

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But then, a man named Jonas Collin, who was a director at the theatre, saw something in Hans. He realised Hans was a terrible actor, but a brilliant storyteller.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

So did Jonas Collin just give him a pen and say, go write a book?

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Not quite. He realised Hans had barely been to school. So, at age 17, Jonas sent Hans back to grammar school. Hans had to sit in a classroom with 12-year-olds.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Oh man, he was probably twice their height. That must have been so embarrassing.

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It was miserable. The schoolmaster was super cruel and told Hans he would never be a writer. He said Hans's spelling was terrible, which it was, because Hans likely had dyslexia.

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I bet that schoolmaster is feeling pretty silly now. When did Hans finally write his first hit story?

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It took a while, but 1835 was the magical year. He published a tiny book called Fairy Tales Told for Children. It cost very little and had only a few stories, like The Tinderbox.

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Did people love them right away, or did the critics keep being mean?

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The critics hated them. They said the stories were too simple and that he shouldn't write for children.

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But the parents and kids, they absolutely loved them. Take that, critics. So then he wrote the big ones, right? Like The Little Mermaid.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Yes, he wrote The Little Mermaid in 1837. But get this, the original story is way darker than the Disney movie. In the book, every step she takes on land feels like she's walking on sharp knives.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Ouch! That sounds painful. Why did he write such sad things?

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Because he felt like an outsider his whole life. That's why he wrote The Ugly Duckling in 1843. He later said that story was basically his own autobiography.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Wait, he thought he was the duckling that everyone teased until it turned into a beautiful swan.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Exactly! By the 1840s, he was world famous. He wrote The Snow Queen in 1844.

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That's the story that inspired the movie Frozen. Frozen came from a story written almost 180 years ago. That is a long-lasting story. It really is.

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Hans wrote 156 fairy tales in total. He became so famous that kings and queens invited him to dinner. The boy from the coffin bed house was now the guest of royalty.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

That is the ultimate whoa moment. But I heard he was still a little bit weird, even when he was famous.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Oh, he was definitely quirky. Hans was terrified of three things: being buried alive, fire, and dogs. Buried alive? How did he stop that from happening? Whenever he went to sleep, he left a note on his bedside table that said, I only appear to be dead. Just in case someone tried to take him to the graveyard.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

That is hilarious and creepy. And what about the fire? Did he carry a bucket of water everywhere?

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Even better! He travelled with a 30-foot-long coil of rope in his luggage. If his hotel caught fire, he planned to tie it to the window and climb down.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

30 feet of rope? That's like a three-story building. He was basically a 19th-century Batman.

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He also visited the famous writer Charles Dickens in England in 1857. He was supposed to stay for one week, but he stayed for five weeks.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Five weeks? That's 35 days. Did Dickens like having him over for that long?

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Not really. After Hans finally left, Dickens wrote a note on his guest room mirror that said, Hans Anderson slept in this room for five weeks, which seemed to the family ages.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Wow, even famous writers get annoyed by house guests. But his impact is still huge, right? It's massive.

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He died in 1875 at age 70. But his birthday, April 2nd, became International Children's Book Day in 1967. Every year, millions of kids celebrate the power of stories because of him.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

That is the best legacy ever. I'm going to go read Thumbelina right now. But wait, is it quiz time first?

SPEAKER_01 9:06

You bet it is! Alright, Finn, and everyone listening. Let's see how much you remember about Hans Christian Andersen!

SPEAKER_00 9:14

I'm ready! My brain is packed with fairy tale facts.

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First question. What year was Hans Christian Andersen born in Odense, Denmark? Next one. How many Rigsdala, or coins, did Hans have in his pocket when he moved to Copenhagen at age 14? Question 3. Which famous fairy tale did Hans write in 1843 that he said was actually based on his own life? Here's number four. Hans's fairy tales have been translated into more than how many languages? Last question. What special global event is celebrated every year on Hans' birthday, April 2nd? Great job thinking those through. Let's see how you did with the answers. The first answer is, Hans was born in the year 1805. For question two, he had exactly 13 Rigsdala with him when he left home. Number three, the answer is the ugly duckling. Question 4. His stories have been translated into over 125 languages. And the final answer is International Children's Book Day is celebrated on his birthday.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

I can't believe he slept with a note saying, I'm not dead. That's going to be my new favourite weird history fact.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

It really shows that even the most famous people in history had their own fears and quirks. Hans went from a coffin frame bed to changing the world with his imagination.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

If you love learning about Hans today, make sure to give us a five-star review. It helps other kids find our show.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

It really does. Just scroll down on your podcast app and tap those five stars. And for even more amazing history games and activities, head over to our site kidopoly.com.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Yeah, there are so many cool resources there. And if you want to say hi or request a topic, email us at hello at kidopoly.com.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

We love hearing from you. Thanks for listening to History is not boring. We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Bye everyone. Keep reading those fairy tales.