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The Flying Trunk

From Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, by H. C. Andersen

This reader is adapted from The Flying Trunk, a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish storyteller whose works include The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, and The Emperor's New Clothes. First published in the nineteenth century, Andersen's tales blend magic, humour, and consequence. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The story offers a young reader a glimpse of how choices—spending everything, taking a shortcut, showing off—can lead to joy and then to loss. It shows that magic cannot save you from your own carelessness.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5

Length

short · about 365 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, 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)

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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