In this book, we hear strange and exotic tales from the far corners of the earth - Japanese, Serbian, Lithuanian, African, Portuguese, rumanian, and Russian. But they are told in the common language of the fairy take, and their events will be familiar to children and grown-ups alike. A magical dog called Schippeitaro helps his Japanese master; a man outwits a dragon in a Rumanian tale; and a Swahili story tells about a youth who visits the King of the Snakes.

This collection contains 35 stories, all narrated in the clear, lively prose for which Lang was famous.