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The Drop of Water

From Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was a Danish writer whose fairy tales—some drawn from folklore, others entirely his own invention—have been translated into more than a hundred languages. 'The Drop of Water' first appeared in the mid-nineteenth century and is one of his more philosophical tales, using the device of the magnifying glass to turn a moment of scientific observation into a parable about human society. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The story is worth a reader's time because it takes a simple image—microscopic creatures in a drop of water—and uses it to ask hard questions about violence, ambition, and whether we are any different from the beings we observe. Andersen leaves the question open, and so the reader must reckon with it.

Band

Blue · Independent readers, confidentTypical starting range: ages 12–14

Length

long · about 1021 words in 5 sections · 2 pictures

Source

Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, H. C. Andersen

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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