“Far away, where the swallows fly away, when it is winter here, a king lived for himself, who had eleven sons and a daughter, Eliza. The brothers were prince, they went to school with a star on their chest and a saber at their side, they wrote with diamond pens on golden tablets, and they read back and forth just as well; it was immediately heard that it was prince. Their sister Eliza would sit on a small mirrored stool and play with a picture book that had been bought for half the kingdom.

Oh, it was good for these children, but it wasn't always meant to be.

Their father married the evil queen, and she cast a spell on eleven princes. Good and steadfast, Eliza had to endure pain, loneliness and risk her life to save her brothers turned into swans.

Beautiful illustrations by Joanna Concejo and an excellent translation by Bogusława Sochańska add to the splendor of the magical fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.