The Red Shoes
By Hans Christian Andersen | Illustrated by Mariah Grace
The Red Shoes revolves around the story of a poor orphan girl who longs to be more
and want more from life. She's spent most of her life living in rags until one day while
walking through the kingdom in the forest, a carriage pulls over.
It's the Queen as luck would have it! The Queen, however, wasn't there to pick up
orphaned girls, but rather to bestow a gift. She gave to the orphan a pair of red shoes -
magical shoes - with a warning. All the while, the princess traveling with the Queen
looked quite happy.
The orphan couldn't wait to wear the shoes into town that very night. She came to
discover that they had a price. The red shoes she coveted had a mind of their own.
Once she started to dance, the shoes didn't quite. Only a handsome soldier in the
Queen's army came to her rescue, before she collapsed.
From that moment all she could think about was how to get back to her true love. The
upcoming Royal Ball was the perfect place to find him she thought! Of course, the
prettiest thing she owned were the pretty red shoes.
She did meet the handsome soldier again, the shoes did still have a mind of their own,
but in the end all was right. They kissed and did live happily ever after.
