3 h 52 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the search for happiness takes you through a world where even bread has a soul?
On Christmas Eve, Tyltyl and Mytyl listen to a party in the rich house across from their small cottage. Then the Fairy Bérylune sends the woodcutter’s children to find the Blue Bird for her ill daughter. A magic diamond wakes the souls of household things, and their strange journey begins.
Guided by Light, the siblings enter the misty Land of Memory and the shadowy Palace of Night. Tylo the Dog can finally speak, while Tylette the Cat has plans of her own. In Georgette Leblanc’s retelling of Maurice Maeterlinck’s play, the search for a bird becomes a gentle question about happiness and home.
What you’ll discover
- A house awakened Watch familiar objects step forward as people when Tyltyl turns his magic diamond.
- Two very different companions Follow the loyal dog and sly cat, whose wishes pull them in different directions.
- A land of remembrance Meet grandparents who wake to life whenever the children remember them.
- The secrets of Night Enter a vast, shadowy palace where an old guardian keeps fear and darkness.
- A question worth keeping Consider where you seek happiness, and what you might overlook close at hand.
Who will love it
For parents who love reading aloud, young readers who enjoy fairy tales with talking animals, and anyone drawn to gentle stories with a moral and magical quests for happiness.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A fairy sends two children searching
- The diamond wakes the souls of things
- In the Land of Memory, the dead live again
- Night and the forest are not on their side
- Luxury, graves and the unborn
- What the tale means and how it speaks
Who’s who
- TyltylA woodcutter's son who receives the magic diamond hat and leads the search for the Blue Bird.
- MytylTyltyl's younger sister, who follows him through every land and often feels afraid.
- The Fairy BéryluneAn old, sharp-tongued fairy who sends the children on the quest because her own daughter is ill.
- LightA gentle girl who guides the children, and who helps them see what is true.
- Tylo the DogThe children's loyal dog, who is overjoyed that he can finally speak to his young master.
- Tylette the CatThe family cat, clever and sly, who has her own plans and does not share the dog's loyalty.
- Grandfather and Grandmother TylThe children's late grandparents, who wake to life whenever they are remembered in the Land of Memory.
- NightThe old, sad guardian of the Palace of Night, who keeps the secrets of fear and darkness.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 3 h 52 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Der blaue Vogel für Kinder
by Georgette Leblanc; Maurice Maeterlinck · 1913
Tyltyl and Mytyl follow a fairy's command into magical lands to find the Blue Bird of happiness.
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In short
The Blue Bird for Children is a fairy tale of two young siblings who search the world for a bird that will bring happiness. It was written by Georgette Leblanc, a French singer and writer, and it retells the stage play The Blue Bird, which her partner Maurice Maeterlinck wrote and which was first staged in 1908.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A fairy sends two children searching
The story opens on Christmas Eve in the cottage of a poor woodcutter. Tyltyl and Mytyl lie in their beds and listen to the sounds of a party in a rich house across the way. They know that Father Christmas will bring them little this year, and they are a little sad about it.
Then an old woman in a green dress and a red hood appears in the room. She is the fairy Bérylune, and she is bent and one-eyed and rather bad tempered. She tells the children that her own little girl is very ill, and that only one thing can make her well. That thing is the Blue Bird, which stands for happiness.
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What is The Blue Bird about?
It follows two poor children, Tyltyl and Mytyl, who are sent by a fairy to find the Blue Bird of happiness. They travel through magical lands and learn what happiness really is.
Who wrote The Blue Bird for Children?
Georgette Leblanc wrote this retelling, based on the play L'Oiseau bleu by her partner Maurice Maeterlinck, a Belgian writer. The play was first staged in 1908.
What does the Blue Bird symbolize?
The Blue Bird stands for happiness and hope. The children chase it everywhere, and its changing color shows how hard happiness is to hold and how easily we overlook it.
The author
Georgette Leblanc
1869–1941 · French singer and writer
Georgette Leblanc (1869–1941) was a French singer, actress and writer. She was born in Rouen and died in Le Cannet, France. She wrote The Blue Bird for Children, published in English in 1913, adapting Maurice Maeterlinck’s play. Her brother, Maurice Leblanc, was also a writer.
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