The Wind Tells about Valdemar Daae and His Daughters

Book excerpt: The wind blows everywhere, pushing the clouds, slipping through the cracks in the walls and so sees lots of things we cannot see. This is why it knows so many stories: here, it tells the story of Valdermar Daae and his daughters. Valdermar Daae was an alchemist of royal blood and possessed great wealth as only those of royal blood can. But his stubbornness in finding the recipe for red gold could lead to his downfall... Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a Danish author, poet and artist. Celebrated for children’s literature, his most cherished fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale", "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Little Match Girl". His books have been translated into every living language, and today there is no child or adult that has not met Andersen's whimsical characters. His fairy tales have been adapted to stage and screen countless times, most notably by Disney with the animated films "The Little Mermaid" in 1989 and "Frozen", which is loosely based on "The Snow Queen", in 2013. Thanks to Andersen's contribution to children's literature, his birth date, April 2, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day.