The Tales of Balaban the Dragon

Jaroslav Perry's fairy tales about the good dragon Balaban are a great book to read to children before falling asleep in the crib. Every fairy tale has to be the right length. Not too long, not too short. And it takes a pleasant five minutes to read one fairy tale about the dragon Balaban. Children quickly learn the catchy beginning of each fairy tale by heart, so they then tell it with you and are very much looking forward to the next dragon adventure. Don't you believe me? So, try it yourself: Once upon a time, there was a dragon whose name was Balaban. Balaban the dragon was very kind. And he liked children. This warm-hearted dragon had seven heads. And these heads were called Abby, Bunny, Carry, Debby, Elly, Fizzy and Gabby. All the heads had their own mind though and their own ideas. Some of the heads behaved nicely; others had some bad manners – Abby sometimes ate snacks belonging to other heads. Bunny was very good at maths and reading, Carry was always kind and other heads liked her very much, Debby always forgot everything. Elly and Fizzy were twins, and nobody could tell them apart. Even the other heads often did not know which one was which. Gabby always liked to scare shopkeepers. When Balaban the dragon walked past a shop, Gabby stuck her head inside and hooted, ‘Hoo, I’m Balaban the dragon.’ And the shopkeeper got scared out of his wits and fainted.