A woman wanted to have a child, but not knowing how to go about it, asked a witch for help. The witch gave her a barley seed and told her to plant it. No sooner had she done so than a large tulip grew. When it opened, the woman discovered a tiny girl, no bigger than her thumb. She called her Thumbelina.-

The Galoshes of Fortune have the power of carrying the person who wears them instantly to any time and place they desire – but is this really a good thing?

Aunt Mille has always told me that I have the soul of a great poet. I am not sure about this, but I love her so much that I do not dare contradict her. The reason I love her so much is that she always gave me and my brothers and sisters lots of sweets when we were little. Now that I am a student, I have my own apartment and sometimes Aunt Mille comes to visit. The other night, while she was sleeping in the next bedroom, I received a visit from another, much less pleasant, lady... Since the...

An expedition was taking place to the other side of the sea: many boats had been sent to the North Pole to explore the sea and the ice. It was winter and over there the days ran into each other in perpetual darkness. The sailors were far from their family, their country and even from dry land. But the youngest sailor knew that he was not alone and that he never would be.

The Ugly Duckling (1842) tells the story of a duckling who is rejected by everyone, including his family, because he looks different. Tired of being made fun of, he decides to go far, far away, but the characters he meets on the way are no more tolerant...

Larsen was a very good gardener, but the noble family he served always found fault with the fruit and vegetables he produced in the garden and the vegetable patch or with the flowers chosen to adorn the castle interior. However, proof of his excellence was everywhere and Larsen never abandoned his work.

There once was a man who held an office that required good penmanship. While he filled the office ably otherwise, he was incapable of good penmanship, so he advertised in the newspaper for someone with a fine handwriting...

Once upon a time there was a darning needle who thought it was a sewing needle. It was indeed very fine, so fine that one day it broke, but it was not yet over for the needle, nor its dreams.

The sculptor, Alfred, returned from Italy after spending ten years discovering Italian art and travelled to one of the cities in the province of Sjaelland island. There, everyone knew who he was and wanted to ask him questions... And he would impress more than one young woman!

Carefully restored children's literature masterpiece accompanied by classic Art Nouveau illustrations by Ivan Bilibin

Rudy lived close to the little town of Grindelwald in Switzerland. He lived with his uncle as his parents were both dead. Indeed, Rudy himself had almost died at the same time as his mother: while crossing a glacier, she had fallen into a crevasse while carrying Rudy, who was still a baby. When help arrived, it was too late to save the mother, but, to everyone's great joy, the baby was rescued. Or almost everyone... The only one who did not rejoice was the Ice Maiden...

He had been ill a long time and God came for him – the parents and sisters of the little four-year-old boy who had died were inconsolable. No chagrin was greater than that of the boy's mother, yet she found some consolation at her son's grave...