Vendulka a princ aneb O neporazitelnosti staré hrušně – Just Jiří (2018)

The book you are probably holding in your hands is both a fairy tale and not a fairy tale. Things happen in it that cannot actually occur, but also things that are already happening or could happen in reality... Like when riders with saws and axes appear in a godforsaken landscape and start cutting down an old pear tree. The oldest daughter of the farmer, Vendulka, bravely stands up to them, and even though she doesn't quite manage to stop them, she hears the voice of the dying tree: 'Take my sap, and you will understand all living things, and they will understand you.' And indeed, all creatures, starting with mosquitoes and insects and ending with rats and snakes, help Vendulka get out of even the most hopeless situations. When man and nature become friends, both gain. The right boys will surely enjoy how the bird feathers bombard the armed henchmen with their droppings or the pompous, snobbish, and decked-out courtiers. And the girls might be interested in how it turns out when Princess Miroslava falls in love with Vendulka, who disguises herself as a young man for greater respect. And the older generations might laugh with relief at the foolishness of those who believed the promises of ever-increasing wealth while also hinting to the younger generation how such an increasingly comfortable life...