Pohádky a pověsti z hradů a podhradí – Štětinová Dagmar (2006)

‘…High, where human hands cannot reach, where words cannot fly, three diamonds shine brightly side by side on the belt of Orion. Three of the most beautiful gemstones: the diamond of honor, love, and loyalty. At the feet of the knight stands a faithful bull. The beautiful princess vainly raises her hands. Vainly she opens her heart. Orion will never, ever return.’ This beautiful and touching, yet deeply instructive fairy tale about human pride and honor opens this new work by the writer Dagmar Štětinová. The author of Knights of the Czech Land and Golem of Rudolfine Prague has introduced herself at the Fontána publishing house with the work Babinský, Lord of the Terrible Forests. She now enters the awareness of our youngest readers with Fairy Tales and Legends from Castles and Towns, compiled into a small collection, which she accompanied with her own illustrations. The sensitive and human touch of the author’s handwriting is evident, for example, in the amusing stories such as Jeník Tomuvěř or Hraběcí kalhotky, the fantastic tale of The Skeleton They Wouldn’t Let Sleep, the instructive legend about lies and slander The Sorceress Dara, and culminates in the story of the eternity of human love, which will surely make both adult and child readers ponder.