Told in the simple but magical style that we recognize from our readings of Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers, this book emphasizes the perceptions of the heart. The inequalities of success and failure, wealth and poverty, ugliness and beauty are seen in relation to the inner lives of the characters as opposed to the often misleading world of appearances. With each page of the story, Wilfried Struning's illustrations lead the young reader into an enchanted kingdom, illuminating the lessons of the tale. Smaller children, too, will delight in these images as the story is being read to them.