Joining the worldwide celebration of the 200 anniversary of Hans Christian Anderson's birthday, about 140 Taipei children were transformed yesterday into little mermaids, ugly ducklings and other fairy-tale characters in honor of the famous Danish writer and his immortal stories.
The Hsin Yi Foundation, an organization that helps the poor and gives scholarships to promote early childhood education, held an"Anderson Fairy Tales Characters' Dress Up Party" yesterday morning in front of the Eslite flagship bookstore in Taipei that drew hundreds of children and their parents.
Among those attending the party was Yu Fang-chih (
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"Fairy tales play an important role in a child's life. Like many of the parents here, I used to tell stories to my daughters every day when she was little. With more local fairy tale writers now in Taiwan, I think modern children are very luck to have more diverse storybooks to choose from," Yu said.
The director of the Danish Trade Organization's Taipei Office, Flemming Aggergaard, shared his favorite Anderson fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling with the children in the party.
"It is a story that says that it is not the outside, but the inside counts," Aggregaard said.
Lauding the event for providing a link between children in Taiwan and Danish literature, Aggreggard said it was a great privilege to participate in a party that celebrated an outstanding writer from his country.
"I am glad to see that the effects of Anderson's fairy tales have traveled so far. Anderson was an extraordinary figure whose ideas spread to every corner of the world ? I hope the interest of Anderson's works will attract friends in Taiwan to visit Denmark," he said.
Hsin Yi Foundation executive director Chang Sing-ju (
"The world has become a much more complicated place with diverse information for our children today. Anderson's works provide positive philosophies and I believe our children can benefit much more by reading his fairy tales, compared to watching TV or browsing online" Chang said.
Siew Yu-jay (
According to her mother, Siew loves reading storybooks and listening to bedside stories.
"I think this is a positive and meaningful event to show children's creativity and encourage their interest in reading," said Siew's mother, who wished not to be named.
Six-year-old Siew Fan-ju (
"In addition to reading storybooks, my daughter's school also encourages students to draw the stories they've read or listened, which is another wonderful way to cultivate children's reading ability and creativity," said Tsai Yi-ching (
Hans Christian Anderson was born on April 2, 1805 in Copenhagen. Many of his fairy tales depict characters who gain happiness in life after suffering and conflicts.
Among his most well-known tales are The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, The Princess and the Pea, The Nightingale and The Steadfast Tin Soldier.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS