On a cold New Year’s Eve a poor girl tries to sell matches in the street.
She is freezing badly and takes shelter in a nook. The girl lights the matches to warm herself and in their glow, she sees several lovely visions of a Christmas tree and a holiday feast. She looks skyward, sees a shooting star, and remembers her deceased grandmother saying that such a falling star means someone died and is going into Heaven.
As she lights her next match, she sees a vision of her grandmother, the only person to have treated her with love and kindness. She strikes one match after another to keep the vision of her grandmother nearby for as long as she can. She dies and her grandmother carries her soul to Heaven...
This is one of the saddest and beautiful tales by Hans Christian Andersen. In this admirable picture book edition it's illustrated by Nina Demidova.
In Russian language. Publisher: Klassika (Russia). Large format. Hardtcover. 32 pages.
