ASSORTED FAIRYTALES

Young Ned enters a haunted mansion where enchantment reigns:



Kate, a young maidservant, seeks her new mistress, befriending magical creatures along the way:



In times without greed, corruption, or conflict... the gods entrust a very special box to a curious lady called Pandora. The rest, we may say, is history!


A master patissiere, who happens to be a wife and mother, is whisked away by the fair folk to prepare delicious desserts for them. Will Lucy be able to escape and reunite with her loved ones?


Andersen's immortal tale about a girl the size of her mother's thumb, born out of a wish and a flower. As the seasons change, she gets one unwanted suitor after the other: a froglet, a braggart beetle, a posh mole... Will she find true love somewhere?


A farm girl gets a mini calf for a pet. But some animals need to be free... such as the cattle of the fair folk! Will Jenny be able to say goodbye to Kebeg?


Three young peasant sisters accept a royal engagement challenge. Tansy (the eldest) is dark-haired, Celandine (the middle one) is fair-haired, and Grindelia (the youngest) is auburn... and rather absent-minded! Which one of them will become a princess bride?


A Slavic "Clever Lass" story, in which the czar is outwitted, time after time, by a peasant maiden. But love gradually blossoms between the unequal contestants in this dramatic battle of wits...


A crippled tin soldier falls for a lovely music-box ballerina. But her jack-in-the-box fiancé casts a curse on the lovers to separate them. After many adventures... will true love find a way?


One winter, the Snow Queen freezes young Kai's heart and whisks him away to her court north of the Arctic Circle. And thus, Kai's friend Gerda goes forth on a quest, encountering the Clever Princess, the Robber Girl, and many more enchanting characters. But will their aid and Gerda's own willpower suffice to warm Kai's heart?


A day in the life of a young otter:



Susan, the daughter of a missing captain, lives as an exile among the riverside reeds for years in her father's absence, a feral child raised by the riverside fauna. One autumn day, the gulls bring tidings of the girl's father, having landed all the way from Persia... Or is he another captain? Her swan friends hasten to meet the stranger to verify if the tall, dashing captain James is Susan's missing father...
(Part I of this two-part story is needless, since it describes Susan's mother's death and her father's departure in a quite Dickensian way that moves me to tears, aside from giving a description of the setting. So I just uploaded Part II, which I listen to as a stand-alone story, and which can be listened to as a stand-alone)



A modern story retold in an Andersenian way, with a snake for a white knight and a rose for a lady fair:



A favourite Norse myth in which Frost Giants steal Thor's hammer and will only hand it over in exchange for Freya's hand. Loki the trickster has an idea... resorting to crossdressing! And thus, comedy ensues...

A KITTEN CALLED MOONLIGHT

A heart-wrenching story about a mother and daughter, and a little stray kitten they find on a beach by moonlight:

MORE EASTER GREETINGS

Springtime is coming.
Thus:

Keep your chin up.

Spread joy to your loved ones.

Enjoy the sunshine with them.

Take five!

You're larger than life.

A STORY FOR EASTER

A hen went into the woods.
Her little chick went with her.
The chick was called Tuppens.
Little Tuppens found some seeds.

The old mother hen said,
"Do not eat the big seeds."

Little Tuppens wanted the big seeds.
So he ate them.
But one of them got stuck in his throat.

The mother hen saw little Tuppens choking.
So, she ran to the spring.

She said,
"Please give me some water,
Little Tuppens is choking."

The spring said,
"Get me a cup.
Then I can give you some water."

The old hen ran to the oak tree.

She said,
"Please give me a cup.
I want to get some water,
Little Tuppens is choking."

The oak said,
"Shake me!
 Then I can give you a cup."


The old hen ran to the little boy.

She said,
"Please shake the oak tree.
I want a cup.
Then I can get some water,
Little Tuppens is choking."

The little boy said,
"Get me some shoes.
Then I can shake the oak."

The old hen ran to the shoemaker.

She said,
"Please make some shoes.
I want them for the little boy.
Then he will shake the oak tree.
The oak will give me a cup,
The spring will give me some water.
I want it for little Tuppens.
He is choking.
And I worry that he should die."

The shoemaker said,
"Get me some leather.
Then I can make some shoes."

The old hen ran to the cow.

She said,
"Please give me some leather.
I want it for the shoemaker.
Then he will make some shoes,
The boy will shake the oak tree,

The oak tree will give me a cup,

The spring will give me some water.

I want it for little Tuppens.

He is choking.

And time isn't on our side!"

The cow said,
"Get me some corn.
Then I can give you some leather."

The old hen ran to the farmer.

She said,
"Please give me some corn.
I want it for the cow.
The cow will give me some leather,
The shoemaker will make some shoes,
The boy will shake the oak tree,
The oak tree will give me a cup,
The spring will give me some water.
I want it for little Tuppens.
He is choking!
And we're running out of time!"

The farmer said,
"Get me a plow.
Then I can give you some corn."

The old hen ran to the blacksmith.

She said,
"Please make me a plow.
I want it for the farmer.
Then he will give me some corn,
The cow will give me some leather,
The shoemaker will make some shoes
The boy will shake the oak tree,

The oak tree will give me a cup,

The spring will give me some water.

I want it for little Tuppens.

He is... Just be honest, he's going to DIE!"

The blacksmith said,
"Get me some iron.
Then I can make a plow."

The old hen ran to the Seven Dwarves.

She said,

"Please give me some iron.
I want it for the blacksmith.
Then he will make a plow,
The farmer will give me some corn,
The cow will give me some leather,
The shoemaker will make some shoes,
The boy will shake the oak tree,
The oak tree will give me a cup,
The spring will give me some water.
I want it for little Tuppens.
HE IS CHOKING... I KNOW YOU'VE HELPED SNOW WHITE, SO PLEEEASE!"

The Dwarves wanted to help
little Tuppens.
They went into the ground.
They got the red iron.
They gave it to the hen.
The hen gave it to the blacksmith.
The blacksmith made a plow,
The farmer gave some corn,
The cow gave some leather,
The shoemaker made some shoes,
The boy shook the oak-tree;
The oak-tree gave a cup,
The spring gave some water.
The hen gave the water
to little Tuppens.
He drank and the water washed the seed down.
Then little Tuppens ate little seeds.

HAPPY EASTER!

Let every year's April showers

bring forth colourful May flowers,

let the sun shorten each night

and fill every day with light...

When summer comes in the end,

we'll finally comprehend 

that hope's reborn every spring,

for children and bards to sing.

And, when cold and gloom return,

we won't forget that we learn

to stay hopeful and secure,

for spring will return once more.

By Sandra Dermark

Happy Easter

and may every springtime last

more than all the winters past!

LIZARD PUFFING UP

MINI AND MAXI

Meet Mini and her bro Maxi

RANDOM GALLERY

Though this is supposed to be a Valentine's post, here are some images (either cute, or just surreal) that I forgot to post earlier:

A lop bunny looking as cute as can be

The mistress of this blog, Pocoyized

A tribute to best friends Gustavus Adolphus and his Finnish chancellor/confidant, Axel Oxenstierna

TO ABSENT FRIENDS... AND TO THOSE NOT ABSENT

To Nan, who will never more be by my side...

I beg her pardon for having offended her and thank her for teaching me.

To Mum, whom I always will love...

...now left an orphan. May she stand strong by me and vice versa.

To classmates, newly found kindred spirits...

...now that I seldom stand on my own.

To all of them, and to the rest of my loved ones...

may next year, though not bereft of sorrows,

prove one of the best in our lives.

IT HAPPENED JUST BY CHANCE

This afternoon, I will host a tea party for four at my mother's place!
Remember those Susaeta Concha Matamoros books (about chickadees, telling the time...)?
I found them at my mother's place, in my childhood bedroom, in the bookcase I once used as a child!
 So I hadn't thrown them away!
The only one I miss is the one with the kitten, of which I only have a scrap I use as a bookmark and the French cover as a digital image...
I just put the books away in my childhood home, where my insecure teenage self thought they fit in best... but soon they'll be in my current bookcase, where Othello and Alice Liddell have tea with the Clever Princess and her consort (from the Fourth Story of "The Snow Queen"), Wallenstein, the young lieutenant from the Spanish story "The Cowardly Horse" by Felipe Benítez Reyes, the twelve Dancing Princesses, and Kanga, among many others.
Tere and Carlos with all their chickadees, Bambi and Thumper, and a couple of rambunctious puppies will soon be invited to such cozy and lovely celebrations!

NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY TO DENY IT...

No matter how hard you try to deny it, you are most certainly fond of cute things.
Take our friend Lady Valdis, for an example (here, she looks stunning in warm colours and an empire waist gown. She is adorable no matter what she puts on, though she is also a blue-loving type like me!):

Love at first sight on both sides!
I am also fond of chickadees myself, like Valdis and my OC Katla. I have two stuffed chickadees to cuddle in my bedroom. Though I miss the storybook of my childhood, illustrated by Concha Matamoros. I threw it away not to be thought "too childish", but the chicks were soooooooo cute! There were two human children (supposedly the farm kids), Tere and Carlos, who picked out their favourite chick and tied a red satin ribbon around its neck!! I regret having lost that storybook and thus, I look for it among second-hand books, hoping to see it again...

VALDIS LOVES CHICKADEES

Even a false heroine's heart is warmed by the sight of chicken chicks (Awwww!!)

MORE CUTE ILLUSTRATIONS

Little Shooting Star Marie, or How to Fulfil a Heart's Wish. In German.

Charles Linnaeus and his pet pig Lindenflower. From "The Flower Pig", a book on Swedish flora, fauna, and folklore published 1707 (Linnaeus tricentennial)

Lindenflower (Lindblom) the piglet and some Linnéa flowers

The lakeside rectory where Charles and Lindenflower were born and raised. 

"The Flower Pig, with Charles Linnaeus". Cover by author-illustrator Björn Bergenholtz.

An Anglophone Easter card with lots of blond, soft, cute-looking chicks. Awwwwwwwwwww!!

Three kittens curiously observing a squirrel.

"My Little Kitten", French translation of a Spanish picture book. I have always loved the works of Concha Matamoros, since I was a little child. I once had this book and two equally cute ones by the same wonderful illustrator: about chicken chicks and about telling the time.

Another picture of Charles and Lindenflower. This one is framed in a wildflower wreath.

REGIMENTAL PETS

In the late eighteenth century, a wild billy goat showed up on a New England battlefield as patriots captured the flag of the Royal Welsh infantry regiment. Believing the green cloth to be an immense leaf, the ruminant snatched it and carried it across the plains, into the royalist lines, where the redcoats recovered it.

Ever since, the regiment has kept a billy goat, known by the name of "William Windsor".

William, in his Welsh green drapery, attracting children's attention.

Another fine picture of William and his human aide.

But William is not as unusual as the Honorary Colonel of Norway's Royal Guard: a male king penguin residing at Edinburgh Zoo. The flightless bird is called Nils after Nils Egelien, the lieutenant who suggested that a penguin should be adopted in the 1970s; and Olav after the then-reigning king of Norway, Olav V. The flightless bird has even been knighted by a British general!

Sir Nils Olav in all his finery.

LESSONS FROM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

Drink a lot of water, and have a shower when possible

Try to make a good impression

Do what you feel is right

Steer clear of prejudice

Love your enemies

Hang out with true friends

Make love, not war

Know when rest is best

Don't break your neck by fretting

You need at least eight-nine hours of sleep a day

Sleep well and cozily

Stay calm...

WORLD'S LARGEST RODENTS

Do you think guinea pigs are cute? (I do!)
Imagine a guinea pig the size of an adult domestic pig:



These aren't transgenic guinea pigs. These are capybaras. Though those featured in this film live in Ueno Zoo (Japan), their natural habitat is the swampland of the Amazon rainforest.