Matchless: A Christmas Story Hardcover – October 27, 2009

Cute book. Very short. Story is very nice.

"Even on Christmas Eve she plied her needle. Humming sentimental melodies of the season, she stitched while Frederik washed up. As soon as she nodded off over her scissors, Frederik scampered up the ladder to his attic. The room reeked with the salt tang of the sea and the sweet rawness of the smokehouse. He didn't mind, this was *his* room, to which his mother in her exhaustion could never manage to climb." -- From MatchlessI'm a huge fan of Anderson's fairy tales (and own  Hans Christian Andersen: The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories (Anchor Folktale Library) ). My absolute favorite story of Andersen's is the heartbreaking tale The Little Match Girl.Now, I've heard of the author of Matchless; he's the guy who takes fairy tales like the Wizard of Oz and puts his own spin on them (how original). And, I've always wondered how his books were. Well, when I saw he had a version of my favorite Andersen tale, I figured this would be the perfect time to sample his writing and hopefully get a fresh spin on this beloved tale.Well! Call me disappointed. Almost every other page is a full-page illustration. Most of the text on the opposing page is a few small paragraphs at best and one sentence at worst. Certainly not worth the price, despite the charming illustrations by the author!And the story? Maguire says he only changed a few slight things about The Little Match Girl (setting the story at Christmas rather than New Year's and making the girl's beloved passed relative her mother instead of her grandmother). However, he changes another crucial aspect of the story (that is, crucial to *his* version of Matchless): in Matchless, the little girl's father is a kindly widower with two babies ill with consumption.However, in the original, the tale clearly states "She didn't dare go home because she had sold no matches and was frightened that her father might beat her." He's obviously not a nice man! So to have Maguire portray her father as not only kindly, but also the new stepfather to the main character of Matchless (a little boy named Frederik) seems bizarre.And, although this point can certainly be debated because of translation issues, Matchless portrays the little boy as laughing with delight as to having found the shoe "for his babies", oblivious to her or her frozen state. Yet, in the original tale, the context suggests that the little boy stole her slipper and shouted that he'd use it as a cradle when he had a child of his own.This is all disappointing not only for the price I paid, but also because I was looking forward to a retelling of The Little Match Girl that didn't sugarcoat her reality, yet somehow found a way to embellish the tale with a redemptive backstory or future echoes that this little girl's life did, indeed, matter.I found the ending to be anticlimatic, and felt that the references to the stars overhead could have been told in a more poetic (and clear) way so that the reader could immediately connect the firmament with the dead girl (it took me a few readings to realize what the author was trying to do).So although Matchless is an attractive hardcover book with lovely drawings from the author, I just can't help but be disappointed at the weak retelling and ending of the tale (not to mention the brevity).-- Janet Boyer, author of Back in Time Tarot

When I was a child, one of the few movies our family owned was The Little Match Girl. I loved that silent film. I was very interested to see Mr. Maguire's take on the story.I enjoyed this version. The original is so sad because the poor child freezes to death and the only warmth is in heaven. Earth is a cold and lonely place. In this version, there is the opportunity for warmth on earth. All is not lost with the little girl. Life goes on and there is a chance for betterment. Yet, you also know that the girl goes on and is in a good place.Very nice twist.

Although I enjoyed the retelling of the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale, I was dismayed to find this version to be very, very short, which I was unaware of as I purchased it on my kindle! Imagine the dismay as when clicking to the 1st page of the story, the kindle displayed the book to be 16% of the entire book! The story was charming, and the pictures were also enchanting, but having said that, for $10.00, I would've rather purchased this secondhand or borrowed from the library. As a sidenote, every other short story that I have purchased from Amazon on my kindle has "(single)" next to the title, so you know it is small. I suppose you could say I felt a bit of the ol' bait & switch. I still liked it, but will be more cautious in the future.

Instead of telling you the story in case you may want to read it, it is a re-tale of H.C. Andersen's tale yes. People are missing a very important part in this books adaption. It didn't make me feel too sad. I had lost my only son in December. It made me smile at the end and reinstate my own spiritual beliefs and reflect on him. Yes a lot of people are poor and it seems the ones who can be so extravagantly celebrant and joyous can't allow poor folk to be the same? Is it because of guilt of pleasure? It's not about the gifts. It is deeper then that. I would read this to children and if I did go to church I'd read it at the children story book club too.

I have always been a Gregory Maguire fan. I didn't know what to expect when I ordered this book but I knew that it was based on a Christmas classic and thought it would be a little present for myself. The book finds a way to take the original story by Hans Christian Anderson (which is beautiful but sad) and make it into a different story all together with a happier tone. It is very sweet. Kids would really enjoy this story which also has some illustrations included.

REALLY not what I was expecting...Being familiar with The Little Match Girl, I knew the story would be sad, but I was expecting an actual retelling...not a completely different tale with the Match Girl's story in the middle.This was very, very short. I wasn't expecting that either. Thus story is meant to be read aloud...and I purchased it on my Kindle, so the importance of the illustrations were lost on me.So all-in-all, I should've bought the book version and not chosen it to start this year's holiday reading. The Match Girl's story is just heartbreaking.

Buy this book used. You wil only pay a penny for it,with $3.99 shipping . Because that's all it's worth. Otherwise it's an okay story takes less than 10 minutes to read. Do not pay full price, you're getting ripped off big time. I've seen free books on Kindle that have more pages than this.

I'm a fan of Gregory Maguire so of course I like this book. It is something that adults and children can read together.