A picture book biography of Hans Christian Andersen blends lively writing, quotes from Andersen’s stories, and artful illustration and design. Yolen weaves revealing descriptions and details into her account of Andersen’s life. “Hans’ genius put him at the top of the class, his strangeness at the bottom,” she writes about awkward, gawky, seventeen-year-old Hans attending grammar school among children. Later, when he took the exam for university, she adds, “He was so nervous, his pen shook ink into the face of one of the examiners.” Each two-page spread of this well-designed volume includes a full-page painting by Dennis Nolan illustrating a scene from Hans’s life, and a detail illustration to accompany a quote from Andersen’s work. (Ages 6–9)

He was the son of a cobbler-awkward, funny-looking, and perhaps a bit crazy. But Hans Christian Andersen went on to become the most beloved children's writer of all time. Here in rich detail that includes quotes from Andersen's own stories, Jane Yolen explores his youth and how his words were inspired by life experiences. His was a childhood that saw the death of his father, an early love for the theater, and the burning passion to become a writer against all odds.
Lushly illustrated by Dennis Nolan, "The Perfect Wizard" is the ideal selec- tion to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Andersen's birth on April 2, 2005.