Sandra Nickel on Fairy Tales, Biographies, and Hans Christian Andersen
In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes author and audiobook narrator Sandra Nickel to discuss her luminous, lyrical picture book biography, The True Ugly Duckling: How Hans Christian Andersen Became a Swan.
Sandra shares how a lifetime of loving fairy tales collided with a deep personal connection to neurodivergence—and how a strange, tender, relentlessly creative boy from Denmark became the perfect vessel for a story about what happens when your differentness is exactly what makes you extraordinary.
From writing in complete silence to choosing a fairy tale structure over a traditional biography, Sandra reveals why emotional distance is one of fairy tales' greatest gifts, how she crafted a book for every child who has ever felt like they were too much for the world around them, and why Hans Christian Andersen might be the most quietly radical figure a child reader could encounter today. Whether you're a parent of a kid who masks, an educator looking for a biography that reads like a bedtime story, or a reader who has ever had a door shut in your face and wondered if you should stop knocking, this conversation is a warm and tender celebration of the children the world almost missed.
Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review (coming soon).
Highlights:
- Strange Child, Extraordinary Legacy: How the very qualities that made Hans Christian Andersen an outsider became the source of his enduring genius—and why Sandra wanted children to see themselves in that
- The Fairy Tale Structure Decision: Why Sandra chose to write a biography that feels like a fairy tale—and what emotional distance a fairy tale can offer that a straight narrative cannot
- Writing Toward the Child Who Needs It Most: How Sandra thinks about the child reader she can't quite define—the one who may never have a label but is walking around feeling like they're too much for everybody
- It Was Always the Children Who Loved Him: The remarkable fact that it was adults who kept shutting doors on Andersen—and children who kept his heart going
- He Just Kept Reinterpreting the Direction: On perseverance, inner voice, and what it looks like to keep following your true self even when the path keeps shifting
- Seven, A Remarkable Pigeon: Sandra's picture book, written at the same time, and why these two stories about using your differentness as your superpower will always be linked
- A Love Letter to Seekers: What Sandra most wants the child reading this book to feel—and why she hopes they'll go straight to Andersen's own stories next
Notable Quote:
"What made him strange is exactly what made him extraordinary." —Sandra Nickel
Books Mentioned:
- The True Ugly Duckling: How Hans Christian Andersen Became a Swan by Sandra Nickel: Amazon or Bookshop.org
- Seven: A Most Remarkable Pigeon by Sandra Nickel: Amazon or Bookshop.org
About Sandra Nickel:Sandra Nickel is the author of several picture books for young readers, including The True Ugly Duckling: How Hans Christian Andersen Became a Swan and Seven: A Remarkable Pigeon. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and brings both a writer's craft and a deeply personal lens to stories about children who feel different. Her work champions neurodivergent kids, outsiders, and anyone who has ever had to find their own way to the door. Visit https://sandranickel.com/
Credits:Host: Bianca SchulzeGuest: Sandra NickelAudio Editor: Kelly RinkProducer: Bianca Schulze
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