The outstanding quality of this book is that it is both comprehensive and brief.

The tone is conversational though not colloquial, and the story is engaging.

Godden frames her biography with Andersen's own words, and she further augments her narrative with carefully selected excerpts from his tales and poetry. Her writing style is marked by rhythmic, lyrical prose rich in images that transport the reader instantly to another time and place. Because Godden was herself a practiced writer of fiction for children when she undertook this biography, she shares a sensibility with her subject: a deep appreciation for acts of imagination and the cognitive capabilities of the young. Readers of all ages will find Hans Christian Andersen: A Great Life in Brief both entertaining and informative.