For as long as I can remember, I have loved fairy tales. For me, fairy tales are equally wonderful and necessary as birdsong and flowering trees in spring and hot chocolate and freshly fallen snow in winter. On my first day of school, the teacher described all the exciting and important things that we would learn in school, not only to read and write and do arithmetic - no, we would also learn such exciting things as natural history and geography, and over the years we would learn more and more. "Well, what do you say?" She asked expectantly. "I will only go to school until I can read and write," I replied, "Then I can read my storybooks myself and write my own fairy tales." Surprisingly, my life took a different course, and I was going to school and studying at the University for many years to come. Later than expected, my own fairy tales came into my life. Joyfully and free, as birds fly, they came into my mind, and I wrote them down for you. As it happens in fairy tales, at the right time, the artist appeared who enriched this book with his beautiful pictures. And now I invite you to dive into this magical world with me where dragons and wizards roam, where animals can talk, where friendship has to prove itself and everything turns out as it should be. This is just one of my stories. More books will come for you to explore. Brigitte Novalis