Arnica, the Duck Princess

A hilarious Hungarian classic children's story about true love, friendship and what happens when a witch turns your fiancée into a duck.

Princess Arnica is so sweet and gentle that when she smiles even wolves and bears forget their fierceness. Everyone loves her, but she loves only Poor Johnny. Luckily, he loves her too, and even more luckily she has a very sensible king for a father, who is happy for her to marry whomever her heart desires. So, no problems then?

Well, maybe just one - The Witch with a Hundred Faces has cast a spell on Arnica and Johnny which means that one of them, at any one time, must always be a duck, and the other human! Who can help them? Only the Seven-headed Fairy. Will they be able to find her? You'll just have to read the book and find out!

Ervin Lázár (1936-2006) was an award-winning and much-loved Hungarian children's author. Among other prizes, he won the 1982 Hans Christian Andersen prize, and the IBBY Book of the Year on three occasions. His stories for children have been translated into many languages, but Arnica, the Duck Princess is the first to appear in English.