Four spellbinding fairy tales from 19th century Romania, translated into English and adapted for a contemporary audience. A girl disguises her gender to rescue her father’s kingdom from the clutches of a tyrannical invader. But while learning to pass as a man, she draws the attention of a young maiden of legendary beauty, and a whole new world starts opening up… Delight in the twists and turns of The Girl Who Would Be King, a transgender fairy tale originally told in 19th century Romania. Three additional Romanian fairy tales introduce you to a whole range of magical characters and exhilarating adventures. Petre Ispirescu was born in 1830 in Bucharest and grew up around Romanian fairy tales. He trained at a publishing house and later used his position to publish several collections of fairy tales. A few of these tales are still part of the literature curriculum in Romania to this day, and they are slowly but surely making their way into the rest of the world.

Four spellbinding fairy tales from 19th century Romania, translated into English and adapted for a contemporary audience. A baby refuses to come into the world until he is promised youth everlasting. But as the boy grows older and his father cannot keep his promise, the young man sets off on the quest of a lifetime… Follow the quest for Youth Everlasting in this thought-provoking fairy tale from 19th century Romania. Three additional Romanian fairy tales introduce you to a whole range of magical characters and exhilarating adventures. Petre Ispirescu was born in 1830 in Bucharest and grew up around Romanian fairy tales. He trained at a publishing house and later used his position to publish several collections of fairy tales. A few of these tales are still part of the literature curriculum in Romania to this day, and they are slowly but surely making their way into the rest of the world.

Four spellbinding fairy tales from 19th century Romania, translated into English and adapted for a contemporary audience. How do the king’s twelve daughters escape their locked bedroom every night? When the young suitors attempting to solve the mystery start to disappear, an intriguing puzzle takes on deadly stakes... Untangle The Mystery of the Dancing Shoes in this atmospheric fairy tale from 19th century Romania. Three additional Romanian fairy tales introduce you to a whole range of magical characters and exhilarating adventures. Petre Ispirescu was born in 1830 in Bucharest and grew up around Romanian fairy tales. He trained at a publishing house and later used his position to publish several collections of fairy tales. A few of these tales are still part of the literature curriculum in Romania to this day, and they are slowly but surely making their way into the rest of the world.

OLD ROMANIAN FAIRY TALES by Mirela Roznoveanu Illustrated by: Alexandra Conte

Roumanian Fairy Tales & Legends is a collection of fifteen of Romania’s most fascinating tales, painstakingly researched and deftly translated by E.B. Mawer - and NO, we havent mis-spelt the title, for thats the way Romania was spelled in the late 1800's. Given Romania’s long and diverse cultural history, it is no surprise that the country has such a rich tapestry of folk tales, fairy tales, and legends. It is also fortunate that so many of these stories survived the country’s turbulent history and were passed down throughout the ages to countless Romanian children. In approximately 82 BC, the rule of the Dacian kings was replaced by the Romans, who were forced out by the Goths, who, in turn, were supplanted in the 4th century AD by the Huns. After this, a sequence of nomadic rulers, including the Gepids, the Avars, the Bulgars, the Pechenegs, and the Cumans, ruled the area. In the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in three distinct principalities: Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania, which were later ruled by the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. In 1859, Moldavia and Wallachia united under Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, but it was not until the end of WWI, in 1918, that Bessarabia, Bukovina and Transylvania proclaimed unions with the Kingdom of Romania and the modern state of Romania was born. YESTERDAY'S BOOKS FOR TODAY'S CHARITIES 10% of the publisher’s profits from the sale of this book will be donated to the Relief Fund for Romania.

Please note - these are not "politically correct" tales. . In the Queen of Fairies (in the original, The Fairy of Fairies) as also in The Enchanted Prince, the plain-spoken expression has in several places been somewhat toned down. In all these cases the translator has cravenly yielded to the fear of bruising the delicate susceptibilities of civilized folks, who, while not exactly more moral, are certainly more squeamish than the artless old-world peasant. The book contains 7 original Romanian tales, as published in 1870s by Petre Ispirescu, as well as their English translation.