The Shirt-collar

A fairy tale retold from Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen wrote this fairy tale in Denmark in the 1800s. It is a story about everyday objects that come to life—a shirt-collar, a garter, an iron, scissors, and a hair-brush. The shirt-collar is vain and boastful, and he lies to impress others. In the end, he is punished by having his whole story printed on paper for everyone to read. Andersen's tales often teach lessons about kindness, truth, and humility. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised.

Band

Yellow · Emerging readers, about 6 to 8

Length

medium · about 530 words in 6 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, H. C. Andersen · Project Gutenberg

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 (8 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page

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.