On the last night of December, a little girl huddles in the bitter cold, unable to go home until she has sold her bundle of matches. One by one, she lights the matches to keep warm, and, as each match lights, the girl's cold, gray world dissolves into visions of light and warmth. Isadora's luminous paintings tell this classic story of a valiant spirit set free at last. Full-color illustrations.

Fearful of returning home to a violent father without having sold enough matches for the day, the Little Match Girl remains on the street resigned to warming herself by lighting matches. With each match, she sees a vision--a warm stove, a table laden with hot food, a beautiful Christmas tree decorated with lights leading up to the sky, so high that one becomes a shooting star. According to her grandmother, each shooting star is a person who had recently passed on and is now heading to heaven. Her next strike brings a vision of her grandmother--the only person in the world who ever loved the Little Match Girl--who takes her away in her warm embrace to heaven. The classic ending is intact here and accompanied by gentle, sensitive illustrations--children will return to this stirring tale often to understand its tragedy and the valuable lessons within.