In this article, I would like to introduce the first fairy tale by Anja Wickertsheim. "Little Hope Goes on a Journey" awakens a sense of adventure and makes children dream, but read for yourself: Anja Wickertsheim gives us insights into the creation of this enchanting children's book:
How it all began
Every story begins with thoughts that form into feelings and images and finally into words. My children's fairy tale "Little Hope Goes on a Journey" began when I spoke to a father who told me about his seriously ill son. To this day, I don't know why he poured his heart out to me specifically. Perhaps because he wanted to be strong for his family. Perhaps because it is sometimes easier to share your worries with an outsider. But perhaps also so that I would write a book in which a girl named Hope goes on a journey to remind people that it is our own strengths that ultimately accompany and encourage us in the difficult hours of our lives.
Basically, it doesn't matter why he confided in me. What matters is what the desperate father triggered in me through his story. After talking to him, I lay in the dark in the evening and thought that none of my answers had done justice to his family's fate. I knew that no material gift would help and that there was hardly any way for me as a stranger to support the family. Some might now ask why I was still thinking about the conversation with the father late in the evening and why his son's illness touched me so much. Giving an answer to that is not easy.
I think many circumstances led to it. The pain in his voice, his fear, helplessness, despair, and a huge wave of powerlessness. Ultimately, however, it was probably the trust he placed in me, a stranger. Trust is one of the greatest gifts there is. And what would have changed if I had remained inactive? Nothing! What would have been created if I had cast off his words like a pair of shoes? Nothing! What is the use of a person who listens but is not there with their heart? Nothing!
So there I lay, pondering. And for whatever reason, my thoughts flew to our dog, whom we had saved from certain death in Hungary years ago. I thought that Negro, our dog, certainly no longer harbored any hope of being saved. But he did have the strength to survive for four years on the garbage dumps and streets of Hungary.
That was, to put it briefly, the beginning of my fairy tale. In my head, I began to send a girl named Hope on a journey and, since hope needs strength, I gave her a large, black dog as a companion, whom I named Strength to honor his will to survive. For three nights, I lay in the dark every evening and asked myself what was probably the most important thing for this little, sick boy and his parents.
The story takes its course
Then I began to write and gave the story the title "Little Hope Goes on a Journey." In the course of my writing, the girl Hope and the dog Strength met a swan whom they called Future. These three companions eventually accompanied the child's recovery together. Who, in the course of the book, grows into a young man and bears the name Faith. Together with his friends, he travels the world and has adventures.
I sent this story, printed on paper, to the father, who had given me his address in case I ever needed anything. Eventually, on the advice of a friend, I sent it to publishers, some of whom asked me to turn it into a comprehensive book.
A complete book
Two years later, I had written it and illustrated it entirely myself. My heart is attached to this book like almost nothing else. In the hope that all the energy I put into it has actually helped to heal the little boy unknown to me and to comfort his family. I don't know if the child has overcome his serious illness, and sometimes I ask myself whether I should send his parents the finished book. I still have no answer to that. I only know one thing, as a mother of two sons… – This father and his son touched me. It was 20 minutes that one individual gave to another, and from that, a 163-page book was born.
Synopsis
"Little Hope Goes on a Journey" is an imaginative fairy tale that tells of a girl named Hope. On her travels through the world, she meets her companions Strength, the Dog, Future, the swan, and Faiththe young man. Together, the four friends have adventures that take them to Germany, the mountains of the Alps, far-off Africa, and a mysterious underground world. This book teaches both young and old readers that faith can move mountains.
Photos by Anja Wickertsheim, author
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