The Snow Queen

Joanna Lumley reads "The Snow Queen". One day, a diabolical troll builds a mirror that shows everything that is beautiful as ugly and all that is good as evil. Delighted, the trolls decided to carry this mirror to heaven and mock the angels, but on their way the mirror breaks and shatters into hundreds of pieces that spread across the world. Some bigger pieces are turned into windows and others are made into spectacles, but some of tiniest bits get stuck into people’s eyes or in their heart, changing their life for ever. That is what happens to little Kay, to the great chagrin of his neighbour and friend, Gerda, and this is how he comes to cross the path of the Snow Queen.

Joanna Lumley is a British actress and activist most known for her roles in the BBC sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous" and in "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013). Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a Danish author, poet and artist. Celebrated for his children’s literature, his most cherished fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale", "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Little Match Girl". His books have been translated into over 160 languages, and today there is no child or adult that isn't familiar with Andersen's whimsical characters. His fairy tales have been adapted to the stage and to the screen countless times, most notably by Disney with the animated films "The Little Mermaid" from 1989 and the 2013 "Frozen" franchise, which is loosely based on "The Snow Queen". Thanks to Andersen's contribution to children's literature, his birth date, April 2nd, is celebrated as the International Children's Book Day. GivingTales is an app that offers both audio and video content of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales in different languages, narrated by well know actors such as Stephen Fry and Dame Joan Collins. They support charities for children, such as Unicef, Shooting Star Chase, Children’s Hospice Care, and Amade. Saga Egmont is a digital publisher, specialising in ebooks and audiobooks. They are a part of the Egmont Foundation, which support vulnerable children and young people and has been combating poverty since 1920.