Hans Christian Andersen’s mother was a laundress in Odense, Denmark. So every day she stood by, and in, Odense River, washing clothes – and it was a cold job, very cold even. Because clothes had to be washed all year round. So to keep warm, Andersen’s mother resorted to alcohol.
Unfortunately, the alcohol ended up killing her already in 1833 – and thus she never got to experience the fame her son received after he published his first collection of fairy tales ‘Fairy Tales Told for Children’ in 1835.

There are up to 1,000 references to Hans Christian Andersen’s own life, work and times in Købke’s fairy tale book, so that both children, adults and Hans Christian Andersen experts will be able to get something very special out of this artwork.

The book has been published in 8 languages – and Købke has received the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2017 and The Klods Hans Award 2016 for the book in which this fairy tale artwork of the the Tinderbox is included.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award that Købke has received has also previously been received by, among others, Johannes Møllehave, Queen Margrete II of Denmark, Ghita Nørby, Günter Grass, Ib Spang-Olsen and others.