- 10/30/2025
On Saturday, October 25, HUE hosted the 4th "Foreign Picture Books and Children's Songs Event (Denmark Edition)." 50 local parents and children were invited to enjoy a reading of picture books by Mads Christensen, an international exchange student from Denmark.
Mads read two of Andersen's works, "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Tinderbox" in Danish. "The Tinderbox" is not very well known in Japan, but in Denmark, it is widely familiar as a representative story alongside "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Little Mermaid." The children listened with great interest to the sound of Danish, which they were hearing for the first time.
Furthermore, Mads introduced the hand-play song “The Shoemaker,” which originated in Denmark. In Japan, this song is known as “The Spool Song.” Both the children and the parents were surprised to learn that the song that they knew actually came from Denmark.
Parents who participated with their children shared their impressions, saying, "It was great to learn about Denmark's culture and the origins of its children's songs." And, "It was interesting to learn about a country we are not very familiar with." Through this event, which has been well-received each time, the university hopes to provide for social impact in promoting internationalization to the local community and primarily to familiarize children at an early age to “international things” and “diversity.”
