Once lived an old woman who was so poor that she could not afford to buy coffin for her death husband. She was desperate and hopeless and the only thing that kept her going was the faith in God. She prayed for help and grace and as a miraculous sign from above, a magical little bird came through the window. The bird began singing so beautifully that the old woman got carried away to a better place at least for a while. But what happened when the song ended? Whose was this bird? "The Poor Woman and the Little Canary Bird" is a nice short tale which will remind you that there is always hope and that joy can be found even in the smallest things. Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a Danish author, poet and artist. Celebrated for children’s literature, his most cherished fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale", "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Little Match Girl". His books have been translated into every living language, and today there is no child or adult that has not met Andersen's whimsical characters. His fairy tales have been adapted to stage and screen countless times, most notably by Disney with the animated films "The Little Mermaid" in 1989 and "Frozen", which is loosely based on "The Snow Queen", in 2013. Thanks to Andersen's contribution to children's literature, his birth date, April 2, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day.