The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen: audiobook vs book, which should you choose?
This is Andersen’s longest fairy tale, a quest told in seven stories. The audiobook takes under an hour and a half, and the recording won an AudioFile Earphones Award.
Short answer: for The Snow Queen audiobook vs book choice, we say listen on Audible (100% confidence, clear cut). Katherine Kellgren reads Blackstone’s 2014 edition in 1 hour 20 minutes, unabridged, on Audible UK and Audible US. One storyteller follows Gerda’s search for Kai, and the reading won an AudioFile Earphones Award. No audio edition names its translator, and print lets you choose one.
Listen on Audible
One storyteller and an Earphones Award reading, with nothing confirmed pointing to print.
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Confidence 100%, which puts it in the clear cut band. Bands run from close call at 50 to 64, through leaning at 65 to 79 and clear at 80 to 94, up to clear cut at 95 and above.
The audiobook at a glance
| Recording | Our verdict: Katherine Kellgren (Blackstone Audio) | Also on both stores: Julia Whelan (Audible Studios) |
|---|---|---|
| Narrator | Katherine Kellgren | Julia Whelan |
| Length | 1 hour 20 minutes (1h 20m) | 1 hour 14 minutes (1h 14m) |
| At 1.5x | about 53m | about 49m |
| At 2x | 40m | 37m |
| Abridged or unabridged | Unabridged | Unabridged |
| Audio publisher and year | Blackstone Audio, 2014 | Audible Studios, released 12 December 2014 |
| Translator credited | Not named | Not named |
| Award | AudioFile Earphones Award | None for this edition |
| Print length | 96 pages (Pushkin Press, 2016); 58 pages (Schocken, Boner translation, Greenaway drawings) | Same editions |
| Price (snapshot) | £5.73 on Audible UK, $8.36 on Audible US | £6.39 on the Audible UK product page, $9.01 on Audible US |
Katherine Kellgren’s recording is scored. The two are equally produced solo readings from 2014, and Julia Whelan’s is slightly newer, but Kellgren’s is the only edition with recognition of its own, the Earphones Award, which ranks it higher. Shorter celebrity versions exist (Stephen Mangan 18 minutes, Sigourney Weaver 27 minutes with music, Joanna Lumley 9 minutes), but they are shortened or adapted, and a full-cast dramatised version (US) is not scored.
Lengths checked 21 October 2026. Speed times are calculated from the listed length. Prices are a snapshot from the same day; the Whelan UK price showed £5.87 in search and £6.39 on the product page.
The Snow Queen
Hans Christian Andersen
- Genre
- Fairy tale
- First published
- 21 December 1844, in New Fairy Tales
- Length
- Seven stories; about 12,590 words in one English text (Lit2Go, translator not named)
- On audio
- 1 hr 20 mins, Katherine Kellgren
- On screen
- Soviet animated film (1957), BBC versions (1976, 2005); Disney’s Frozen (2013) is loosely inspired by it
On this page
Why we reached this verdict
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions. They are based on research into what most people find easier to follow in each format, not on whether the book is any good.
Listening: single point of view and narrator (7), award-winning or praised narration (6), 13 points. Reading: nothing confirmed, 0 points. 100% of the confirmed points favour listening, so the verdict is listen on Audible at 100% confidence (clear cut).
The recording in detail
- Scored
- Katherine Kellgren, Blackstone Audio, 2014, 1h 20m, unabridged, on Audible UK and US
- Award
- AudioFile Earphones Award (as stated by Blackstone)
- Listener ratings
- Kellgren 4.3 from 33 on Audible UK and 4.2 from 228 on Audible US; Whelan 4.2 from 44 (UK) and 3.6 from 10,363 (US), as of October 2026
- Translation
- Not named on any Audible or Blackstone page checked
- Other editions
- Julia Whelan (Audible Studios, 2014); B.J. Harrison (1h 16m); Greta Scacchi in a collection (4h 57m); shortened versions by Stephen Mangan, Sigourney Weaver and Joanna Lumley
- What you miss
- A choice of translation, and the illustrations
What this book actually is
The Snow Queen was first published on 21 December 1844 in Andersen’s New Fairy Tales. It is one of his longest tales, a “novel-styled narrative” in seven stories: a mirror and its splinters, a little boy and a little girl, the flower garden of the woman who understood witchcraft, the prince and princess, the little robber maiden, the Lapland woman and the Finland woman, and the Snow Queen’s palace.
A splinter of a troll’s mirror lodges in Kai’s eye and heart, the Snow Queen carries him off, and Gerda sets out to rescue him. One English text runs to about 12,590 words. It is a winter tale rather than a Christmas story. Disney’s Frozen (2013) is loosely inspired by it; earlier adaptations include a Soviet animated film (1957), BBC versions in 1976 and 2005, and an English National Ballet production (2007).
The case for reading it
The best reason to read it is the translation. The Snow Queen reaches English through a translator, and in print you can choose: Naomi Lewis (Puffin), Neil Philip, Erik Christian Haugaard (Anchor) or Charles Boner (Schocken, with Kate Greenaway’s drawings, 58 pages). No audio edition checked says which translation it uses. The names also shift between versions, Kai, Kay or Kaj, which matters if you are reading along with a child or studying it.
The illustrated tradition is the other draw: Edmund Dulac, Errol Le Cain, Angela Barrett and Bagram Ibatoulline have all made picture editions. At about 12,590 words, reading takes around 50 minutes at 250 words a minute (calculated), slightly less than the recording. A free English text is on Lit2Go.
The case for listening to it
Gerda’s journey is a single quest broken into seven short stories, which makes it easy to follow as an audiobook and easy to stop and pick up again. A storyteller narrates, and Katherine Kellgren’s reading is the one with the strongest outside endorsement: an AudioFile Earphones Award, with AudioFile saying she “wrings all of the emotion and suspense from Andersen’s classic tale”.
Julia Whelan’s Audible Studios reading is the most rated (3.6 from 10,363 on Audible US as of October 2026). She is billed as Audible’s 2014 Narrator of the Year, which is a title for her, not for this recording. Either way, the whole tale takes under an hour and a half, or 40 minutes at 2x.
The audiobook in detail
Kellgren’s edition (Blackstone Audio, 2014) runs 1 hour 20 minutes and costs £5.73 on Audible UK and $8.36 on Audible US as of October 2026. Whelan’s (Audible Studios, released 12 December 2014) runs 1 hour 14 minutes. Both are unabridged and neither names a translator. B.J. Harrison’s reading, subtitled An Adventure in Seven Stories, runs 1 hour 16 minutes.
Check the length before you buy a version read by someone famous. Stephen Mangan’s 18-minute version is listed as unabridged, but a listener says it is a modified text. Sigourney Weaver’s 1991 recording is adapted and abridged, with music by Jason Miles. Joanna Lumley’s runs 9 minutes and is a retelling. Greta Scacchi reads it within a 4 hour 57 minute collection of Andersen stories. A full-cast version on Audible US is a dramatisation and is not scored.
Who should ignore this verdict
Print suits anyone who wants a particular translation, or wants to read the same words a child is reading. It also suits anyone buying it as a picture book. If you are tempted by a celebrity version for a quick listen, most are shortened, so the full tale is in Kellgren’s, Whelan’s or Harrison’s reading.
Audiobook
- Read by Katherine Kellgren, AudioFile Earphones Award
- 1h 20m, or about 53m at 1.5x
- Unabridged; translator not named
Kindle
- Choose your translation (Lewis, Philip, Haugaard, Boner)
- Illustrated editions by Greenaway, Dulac, Barrett and others
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Questions people ask
Who narrates The Snow Queen audiobook?
It depends on the edition. Katherine Kellgren (Blackstone, 2014) is scored here, for her AudioFile Earphones Award. Julia Whelan (Audible Studios, 2014) also reads it unabridged.
How long is The Snow Queen audiobook?
Kellgren’s unabridged reading is 1 hour 20 minutes; at 1.5x about 53 minutes and at 2x 40 minutes (calculated). Whelan’s is 1 hour 14 minutes.
Is The Snow Queen audiobook abridged?
Kellgren’s, Whelan’s and B.J. Harrison’s are unabridged. The Stephen Mangan, Sigourney Weaver and Joanna Lumley versions are shortened or adapted.
Should I read or listen to The Snow Queen?
Listen on our checks (100% confidence, clear cut). One storyteller follows Gerda’s search for Kai in an AudioFile Earphones Award reading, and nothing confirmed points to print.
Which translation do The Snow Queen audiobooks use?
None of the Audible or Blackstone pages checked names a translator. In print you can choose, for example Naomi Lewis, Neil Philip, Erik Christian Haugaard or Charles Boner.
Is Frozen based on The Snow Queen?
Loosely. Frozen (2013) is described as loosely inspired by it, not an adaptation.
Is The Snow Queen a Christmas story?
It is a winter tale rather than a Christmas story, though it was first published on 21 December 1844.
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How this verdict was reached
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions, set in advance and applied identically to every title. They are based on research into what readers and listeners generally find easier to follow in each format, not on personal preference, and they are published in full so you can check the reasoning yourself. Verdicts are never paid for, sponsored or influenced by affiliate partners.
- The criteria: read the thirteen questions in full.
- What we checked for this book: the Audible UK and Audible US search listings and product pages, Blackstone’s page quoting AudioFile, the Lit2Go text for the word count, Open Library for print editions and translations, and Wikipedia as a secondary source on publication, structure and adaptations.
- Verdict last reviewed: 23 October 2026. Editions and narrators change, so verdicts are rechecked annually.
- Prefer different criteria? The app, coming soon, will let you change which of the thirteen questions matter to you.
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