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The Emperor's New Suit

A fairy tale retold from Hans Christian Andersen

This is a retelling of "The Emperor's New Suit" (also known as "The Emperor's New Clothes"), one of the most famous fairy tales by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, first published in the nineteenth century. It is a story about honesty, vanity and the courage to speak the truth when everyone else is silent. A few period terms have been modernised. The tale reminds young readers that even when grown-ups are afraid to say what is true, a child's honest voice can change everything.

Band
Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5
Length
short · about 328 words in 5 sections · 4 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 (6 questions) with answer key
  • · Read-aloud script
  • · Colouring page
  • · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Lesson at a glance

Reading
about 8 minutes at this band
Pause questions
4
Words to Know
4
Quick Check
6 questions, with the answer key
Let’s Talk
3 questions for afterwards
Worksheet
questions, an activity and a drawing prompt

About 35 minutes with one story, all of it.

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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The same story

The Emperor's New Suit at other bands