The Top and Ball
A fairy tale retold from Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish writer who lived in the 1800s and wrote many beloved fairy tales. "The Top and Ball" is a story about pride, love, and how time changes us. The top loves the ball, but she thinks she is too fine for him. Years later, they meet again in a very different place. This story reminds us that beauty and pride do not last forever, but the choices we make can change our lives. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised.
- Band
- Yellow · Emerging readersTypical starting range: ages 6–8
- Length
- medium · about 523 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 (8 questions) with answer key
- · Read-aloud script
- · Colouring page
- · Teacher’s Edition (members)
Lesson at a glance
- Reading
- about 9 minutes at this band
- Pause questions
- 2
- Words to Know
- 6
- Quick Check
- 8 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.
Report a concern about this reader · What’s in a HummingRead reader
The same story
Other bands of this story
This story is ready now at the Yellow band only. Other bands can be made to order for members after launch.