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!

Reviews

A quacking read… a wonderful, twisted fairytale, with gorgeous illustrations

The Times

Charming and funny, a minor classic … Quirky and philosophical, this is a fabulous read-aloud for children ages 6-11

Wall Street Journal

Delightfully entertaining… Unreservedly recommended

Midwest Book Review

Superbly translated and stunningly illustrated, Arnica the Duck Princess is both an enchanting read and a delight to hold (or give as a gift, which I have done on several occasions

World Kid Lit

Gorgeous illustrations! A beautiful Hungarian fairy tale… love, friendship and a wicked witch! Just brilliant!

Independent Book Reviews (blog)

Something rather special… [a] fairytale of love and friendship… Perfect to read aloud or to share with new slightly more confident readers

Angels and Urchins

Jacqueline Molnár’s eye-catching illustrations have a wonderful folk art quality to them which wonderfully complement the text… contains all the most important ingredients of a fairy tale: friendship, peril, humour and a touch of magic

Library Girl and Book Boy (blog)

A stunning fairytale about love, friendship and laughter, but Lázár also offers wise words about controlling one’s anger, forgiveness and showing kindness… this is a magical tale to be enjoyed by readers young and old

Bluebird Reviews (blog)

What a treat this book is to read. Completely original and extremely funny, it breathes life into the traditional fairy tale model bringing a very modern twist…A tale about true love and friendship but with the added ingredient of what happens when your fiancé is turned into a duck

Outside in World

The style of writing is refreshingly modern and amusing … I have no way of knowing if this is the style of Ervin Lazar, capably translated by Anna Bentley, or if there is some magic happening in the translation… It’s really very charming [and] … the illustrations by Jacqueline Molnar turn out to be exactly what the book needs

Bookwitch