The Emperor's New Clothes: a book club kit

Where it comes from. Hans Christian Andersen, a storyteller in Denmark, wrote this in 1837. People still say "the emperor has no clothes" when nobody dares tell the truth.

In short (for the leader; it gives the ending away). A vain Emperor who loves new clothes is promised magic cloth that fools cannot see, by two tricksters who weave nothing at all. Everyone, from the Emperor to his ministers, pretends to see the cloth because nobody wants to look foolish. Then the Emperor parades in his new clothes, and a small child says out loud what everyone is thinking: he has nothing on.

The lesson, in one line. It takes courage to say what is true.

Reading plan, by the story's parts. Meeting 1: Part One, “The Magic Cloth” and Part Two, “Nothing on the Looms”, pages 1–8 (about 4 minutes aloud); Meeting 2: Part Three, “Getting Dressed” and Part Four, “The Parade”, pages 9–15 (about 4 minutes aloud). Each stop's own questions, which never give away what comes next: The Emperor's New Clothes by chapter.

Questions to talk about

1. Who wrote The Emperor's New Clothes?
   The story's answer: The Danish author Hans Christian Andersen wrote it. It was first published in Copenhagen on 7 April 1837, in a booklet of fairy tales told for children, together with “The Little Mermaid.” He built it on an older Spanish story from 1335, which he knew from a German translation.
2. Is The Emperor's New Clothes a true story?
   The story's answer: No, it is a made-up fairy tale. Andersen reworked a medieval Spanish story by Don Juan Manuel, in which a king is fooled by weavers. Andersen changed the focus to pride and the fear of looking foolish.
3. What is the moral of The Emperor's New Clothes?
   The story's answer: Andersen does not state a moral, and readers have drawn different lessons from it. A common reading is that people can be afraid to say what they see when everyone around them pretends otherwise, and that it takes someone honest, like the child, to say it out loud. The phrase “the emperor has no clothes” is used for something praised only because nobody dares to criticize it.
4. Who in the story was kind, and who was not? How do you know?
   Listen for: Ask for the moment in the story that shows it.
5. Which part would you change, and how would the story end then?
   Listen for: There is no wrong ending; ask what else would have to change.
6. Is there a rule of three in this story (three tries, three wishes, three visitors)? Why do you think fairy tales like threes?
   Listen for: Many do; a third time is where the change happens.

Did you know?

• Written by Hans Christian Andersen and first published in Copenhagen on 7 April 1837, in Fairy Tales Told for Children, alongside “The Little Mermaid.”
• Andersen took the idea from a Spanish tale told by Don Juan Manuel in 1335, in the book of Count Lucanor.
• Andersen did not read the Spanish book. He knew the tale from a German translation titled “So ist der Lauf der Welt,” which means “That's the way of the world.”

Activity: Draw the story as a map

On one big sheet, draw every place the story happens and the path between them. Mark the spot where things go wrong and the spot where they come right.