Bernadette Watts

"Varenka lives contently in her cottage in the woods, until passersby warn her that war has broken out. Pack up a bundle and come along with us. But Varenka can't leave. Who will care for the children who wander and get lost in the forest? Who will shelter the animals and feed the birds when winter comes? Soon, Varenka shelters a young artist, an old farmer and his goat, and a lost child. And each night she prays for a wall to be built around her...

A little girl finds the empty home of the three bears where she helps herself to food and goes to sleep.

A young fir tree in the forest can't wait to grow tall enough to be a Christmas tree, not realizing that that will end its life.

A poor shoemaker becomes successful with the help of two elves who finish his shoes during the night.

Retells the story of the race between the tortoise and the hare.

When the town mouse and the country mouse visit each other, they find they prefer very different ways of life.

When a witch changes Jorinda into a nightingale, her sweetheart Joringel discovers through a dream how to save her.

When a wealthy neighbor tempts him with a chest full of riches, a poor but cheerful shoemaker is so burdened with worry about his wealth that he decides to return it.

Now, when poor Snow White found herself alone in the big forest, she didn't know which way to turn, but she knew that she must run as far from the queen as she could go. There were so many strange noises in the forest--and the towering dark trees and their looming shadows looked fierce and ominous. She felt so frightened that she didn't know what to do, but she ran like the wind over sharp stones and through bramble bushes and across mountains. Sometimes...

A cock and a hen go in search of nuts and begin an adventure which proves them to be mischievous and irresponsible characters.