The Laughing Princess is a collection of 12 interrelated fairy stories concerning dragons.

 

Petra and Daniel are on holiday, but they have little use for the quaint fishing village to which their parents have taken them. However, when Daniel finds a curious stone on a lonely beach it proves to be a tiny dragon who tells them stories of people who match wits with elemental dragons.

 

The children meet a young princess, a retired wizard, a blind man in love, a boy who can’t laugh, a thief-of-hearts musician, a fearsome warrior, a girl who asked for too much, a lonely poet, a dying witch, and a queen who faced a pirate.

 

Each story is accompanied by a full colour illustration by Shirley Mackenzie, who also provided black-and-white drawings of how the littlest dragon grew.

 

An audio version is available, free.