Stories for the Season: The Little Match Girl

by ArtBIT

You were probably wondering if I forgot this tale but I was just saving it as my 'book end', since it's the first tale I mentioned this month.

by The Enigma (Ella Baru?)

development art from the Disney short directed by Roger Allers


by Jaqueline Hudon-Verrelli

You're most likely all familiar with the story so I won't repeat it except to tell you that the translation of the danish title actually means "The little girl with the sulphur sticks" - which makes it seem even more sad for some reason.

by Miwa Yanagi

In the middle of a stressful season it's good to remember to be thankful for all I have and to remember there are many who aren't nearly so lucky and that if I have the opportunity to help, I should.

by Tekkoman

by Ariel Padilla

I find different images/illustrations bring different emphasis to the story so thought I'd post a few - quite different from each other - that I've found in the past. (The SurLaLune blog has already had a "Little Match Girl" week and highlighted some lovely illustrated retellings so I'm focusing on one-off illustrations, although I've included a couple of classic for comparison.)

album cover for Loren Mazzacane Connors


by Honor C. Appleton


Laetitia Angot plays The Little Match Girl in the theater production by Martin Jaques


scene from the Disney short directed by Roger Allers

by Christian Birmingham



by McLelun

by Robert Dress

And one little charm in a matchbox - a collaboration by Zoe Sernack and Lang Leav.
In addition I found a special Match Girl book, by artist Chloe Lan, which cleverly uses text to both tell the story, set the scene and communicate the mood of the story. I've included one example below. Click to view larger and read the text:

Click HERE to view some other pages and to learn more about the book.

I couldn't complete this entry with at least a little film so found a lovely, 'conceptual art animation' for you by Charlene Wienhold (a.k.a. AuroraInk on deviantArt) who has an amazing portfolio HERE. Enjoy:


I also wanted to mention a story titled Little Piccola by Francis Jenkins Olcott. This story reminds me of The Little Match Girl very much except it has a happy ending - and the girl lives to see another Christmas.

You can read the original poem the story was adapted from HERE.

Piccola, illustration from McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader
St Nicholas Center Collection

Marc Schömann's Match Girl

I found this set of story photos on the Behance Network and it does a brilliant job of telling the story of The Little Match Girl in a modern context, without needing a single word.

The creator is young German photographer and artist Marc Schömann. Click HERE to see his portfolio and, if you like his Match Girl, you can click below the photo set (on its dedicated page) to show your appreciation anonymously.

Hans Christian Andersen set his tale in a snowy, Christmas-time context and both the tale and this photo story remind us to count our blessings and think of others during the season.

Steampunk Fairy Tales - Part III of III

Here's the final post of 'steampunk-ing' fairy tales illustrations I've been showing you this week. You can find Part I, posted 7/12/09, HERE (with introduction) and Part II, posted 7/14/09, HERE.

Again, you can click on the images to see a larger version (highly recommended), while the links to the artists are in the title and name above each piece.

SLEEPING BEAUTY by ANTONIO CAPARO

THE PRINCESS AND THE NIGHTINGALE by MAURICIO DAL FABBRO
(after The Emperor & the Nightingale)

STROMBOLI'S CATCH by LIOR ARDITI

CHESHIRE ADVICE by ERIC CLAEYS

I'm including one more which, while not rendered in the same fashion as the others, still has real charm and explores an interesting concept for "The Little Match Girl" (you'll see what I mean when you click on the pic to have a closer look).

THE LIL' LAMP GIRL by MAX ARKES

That concludes my pick of steampunk fairy tale illustrations on the web to date. I do hope to see more artists exploring fairy tales this way in future. If I find any you can be sure I'll post them too.