Step inside our new retelling of The Snow Queen
by Floris Books • 5 November 2026 • Children's Books, Extract • 0 Comments
Best friends Arne and Janna live on neighbouring farms and spend their days working and playing together. But everything changes when a splinter of magic mirror chills Arne’s heart and he falls under the spell of the powerful but icy Snow Queen, who whisks him away to her palace.
The Snow Queen is a fresh and magical retelling of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale by award-winning author Bette Westera, which is brought to life with warm, colourful illustrations from artist Aida de Jong.
Beautifully presented and engagingly retold for today’s children, this new edition of a much-loved tale will captivate a whole new generation of readers.
Read on to follow Janna’s journey north, where she meets a kind Sami woman on the way.
The Reindeer-Fur Hat
The reindeer took Janna further and further north, even without being tickled. The night was cold and dark. Janna wrapped Arne’s red blanket around her shoulders to keep herself warm.
“Are you sure you want to go to the realm of the Snow Queen?” the reindeer asked. “Compared with the bitter cold up there, this weather is balmy.”
“I’m sure I want to go,” Janna insisted. “Is it much further?”
“Too far for tonight. Let’s ask if we can sleep here,” the reindeer answered, nodding her head at a tent on the bare plain. “I know the woman who lives here. My parents were part of her herd.”
When they arrived at the tent, the reindeer put Janna down at the entrance.
“Just crawl in, she’s very friendly,” the reindeer said. “I’ll go and look for some reindeer moss to eat and wait out here for you.”
Goodness me, goodness me,
who’s this I see?
said the surprised Sami woman when she saw Janna’s head poking through the tent flap.
“I’m Janna. I come from the south of Sweden and I’m looking for my friend Arne. He went to the realm of the Snow Queen and I’m bringing him his red blanket.”
Oh dear, oh dear,
what a terrible idea!
the Sami woman cried.
“Why?” Janna asked.
The woman gestured for her to come closer and Janna crawled into the tent. It was lovely and warm. There was a wood-burning stove in the middle, and on it was a pan giving off a delicious smell. The Sami woman gave Janna a big bowl of hot soup.
“The realm of the Snow Queen is beyond the far north of Sweden. The snowflakes there are bigger than pigeons and the wind blows right through your clothes, even if they’re made of warm reindeer fur. Without a blanket and in ordinary clothes, your Arne must have frozen to death long ago.”
“I don’t believe it!” Janna cried. “I’m sure he’s still alive and I’ll find him, no matter how big the snowflakes are and how hard the wind blows.”
“You’re a brave girl,” the Sami woman said. “I’ll give you some jerky to chew on the way. Would you like some more soup?”
Janna shook her head. The woman made a bed of pine needles and reindeer hides for her, and in no time she was sound asleep.
It was still very early in the morning when Janna said goodbye to the Sami woman and climbed up on the reindeer’s back once more. The sky was dark, and it would stay dark until noon: that was how far north she’d already come. It had snowed in the night and the branches of the pine trees looked magical.
The further north they went, the whiter the branches became and the deeper the reindeer’s hooves sank in the snow. Eventually, they stopped.
“See those green and purple lights in the distance?” the reindeer asked.
Janna peered ahead.
“They’re the Northern Lights,” the reindeer explained. “If you follow them, you’ll come to the Snow Queen’s ice palace.”
“What about you?” Janna asked.
“I’m going back. Nothing grows there, not even reindeer moss. Goodbye, Janna, and good luck.”
And the reindeer was gone.
There was Janna, with the red blanket under one arm, standing up to her knees in the snow. The Sami woman had given her a hat, boots and coat made from reindeer fur, but the icy wind from the realm of the Snow Queen blew right through all of them.
Janna started to walk towards the coloured lights in the sky. Snowflakes as big as pigeons were falling and soon the snow came up to her hips.
She reached an icy plain. The clouds cleared, but there was nothing to block the cold wind. Janna pushed on through deep snow until the Northern Lights were dancing right above her in the dark sky, and she realised she was standing at the entrance to the Snow Queen’s ice palace.
For a few brief seconds she forgot the biting cold. I’ve made it. I’m here at last, she thought.
❄️
What happens next on Janna’s journey? Find out in The Snow Queen.
About the Creatives
Bette Westera is an award-winning Dutch children’s writer. She has published over 130 books for children and her writing has been widely translated. In 2020, Bette’s poetry collection Dead Normal won The Netherlands’ long-running and prestigious Gouden Griffel (Golden Pencil) award for children’s literature. When not writing, Bette enjoys spending time with her three children and four grandchildren. She lives in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, with her husband.
Aida de Jong is a Dutch illustrator, designer and teacher. She studied Illustration and Fine Art at Utrecht School of the Arts, and she finds her inspiration in nature, folklore and history. Aida has illustrated several children’s books and lives in Gouda in the Netherlands.
