Princess Rose and the Golden Bird

The young and handsome Sergey Nikolov is a Bulgarian government worker by day who in his spare time has found a hidden talent - writing children's books. Living in Stara, Bularia with his wife and daughter, he not only writes his stories but also illustrates them: he may just have a third vocation as an artist as the illustrations are particularly fine. PRINCESS ROSE AND THE GOLDEN BIRD is his first book, and now he has published a second - THE LEGEND OF THE BLACK SEA (a collection of fairy tales). He seems to have found a solid second career! `Many, many years ago, in a kingdom far, far away' is such a great way to start a story for children. And in this kingdom lived a beautiful red headed princess who loved roses so much that she earned the title of Princess Rose. Every evening a golden bird flew in and sat on her shoulder making the princess hair glow and together the princess and the bird sang lullabies to the happy kingdom, allowing all the people to sleep with sweet dreams. Ah, but a wicked witch enters, curses the princess making her glowing red hair turn black as tar - but at night when the the golden bird visits her hair glows black and the two still sing sweet goodnight songs. But the people had nightmares instead of sweet dreams. Sadly the princess seeks council from the bird who suggests she wash her hair in rose water, and like magic her hair was once again a glowing red and the princess and the bird sang sweet songs that made the kingdom sleep well again. But the witch was enraged, turned the princess' hair black again, and stole all the roses in the kingdom. Despondent the princess stood at her balcony and cried and a tear dropped to the ground at the feet of a handsome prince who just happened to have a strand of the princess red hair from when the two were children. The prince places the red hair on a tear from the princess and a rose appears. The princess uses the rose to make rose water and once again her hair is red, Now in love, she marries the handsome prince and the wicked old witch is so angry that she explodes into a thousand pieces, and once again roses grow through out the kingdom! The story is tender, the illustrations are lovely, and this s a book children will ask to read again and again. Bedtime stories such as this are so successful with children - and their parents...Grady Harp, February 14

While Princess Rose & the Golden Bird might seem like the garden-variety fairy tale, Sergey Nikolov brings something new to the genre. His princess, Rose, has a golden bird fly out of nowhere and land on her shoulder. This brings a sudden and wondrous light to her red hair, making it glow. The bird then sings, and when Rose joins in, the whole kingdom falls asleep to sweet dreams for the entire night. Of course the local witch can't stand all this peaceful dreaming nonsense, so she curses the princess, turning her hair coal black. The golden bird comes back and the princess' hair glows but this time, everyone in the kingdom has bad dreams. To see what happens and how the princess gets her mojo back, you'll have to read the book. It's a charming story with some very original illustrations to go with it. Nikolov states in his bio that he put his work out on the internet with no expectations until he was encouraged to try publishing his stories. I'm glad he did, and really, that's the best way to see if your work has mass appeal. I'm sure children will enjoy both the story of Princess Rose, and the vivid illustrations that go with it.

Sergey Nikolov of Bulgaria has released a most appealing book (or bedtime story) for young children roughly between the ages of four and eight; this book tells the tale of the beautiful Princess Rose who, along with a golden bird, brings sweet dreams to everyone in the kingdom every night! The story is engaging; I myself read it with genuine interest and I think this book is a wonderful way for grown-ups to bond with young children as they either read the book to them or let the child read the book and listen as the child reads. The book will likely also expand the vocabulary of youngsters and that’s grand. I should also mention that the illustrations—also by Sergey Nikolov—are very, very beautiful. Credit should also be given to Selena Bedwell for translating the story into English. Well, back to the actual story itself. It seems that every evening as a golden bird “(warbles) an enchanting tune, Princess Rose (joins) it in song, and everyone in the kingdom (falls) asleep and (has) sweet dreams till break of dawn.” However, this bliss is ended by an evil witch who casts a terrible spell on Princess Rose—the witch makes Princess Rose’s hair turn black and while Princess Rose and the golden bird could still make all the people in the kingdom fall asleep—they only have nightmares instead of pleasant dreams! Initially the curse is reversed when the golden bird tells Princess Rose to use water and rose petals on her hair to make it red again and regain her ability to sing along with the bird and make beautiful, wonderful dreams for the inhabitants of the kingdom, but things turn very bad once more when the wicked evil witch casts yet another evil spell on Princess Rose—and this time takes all the roses in the entire kingdom away so that Princess Rose can never make her hair red again! Princess Rose can now never sing along again with the golden bird to make the people in the kingdom get a good night’s sleep with pleasant dreams! Of course there’s more to the story than just this; I’ve left out some details so I don’t spoil it all for you. The tale also has an interesting, somewhat unexpected but very happy resolution. I highly recommend this fine little book for youngsters and grown-ups interested in using this book as a way to enjoy quality time together. Young children (as well as adults) will be delighted by this tale which is truly classic. The author of this book, Sergey Nikolov, is indeed a gifted storyteller!

My little girl enjoyed this book she read every other page she found it easy to read with pictures and a nice fairy tale.