"Legends and Folklore: Eighteen Fairy Tales from Romania" were collected by Mite Kremnitz, a German writer who was a good friend of Queen Elisabeth and co-authored several novels with the queen during the 1800's. Both women used pen names for this purpose. Queen Elisabeth wrote under the name Carmen Sylva, while Mite Kremnitz signed her works as Ditto and Idem. Mite Kremnitz (1852-1916), born Marie von Bardeleben, was the daughter of the famous surgeon Heinrich Adolf von Bardeleben. She grew in Greifswald, London and, starting with 1868, in Berlin. Later she married the doctor Wilhelm Kremnitz and moved with him to Bucharest in 1875. The couple had 2 children. In Romania, Marie became good friends with the Queen Elisabeth and was appointed her maid of honor. Although Mite signed some of her collaborative works with the queen as Ditto and Idem, in 1990 she began authoring under her name, Mite Kremnitz. "Legends and Folklore: Eighteen Fairy Tales from Romania" includes Stan Bolovan, The Wonderful Bird, The Twins and the Golden Star, Youth without Age and Life without Death, The Little Purse with Two Half-Pennies, Mogarzea and His Son, Cunning Ileane, The Princess and the Fisherman, Little Wild-Rose, The Voice of Death, The Old Woman and the Old Man, The Pea Emperor, The Morning and the Evening Star, The Two Step-Sisters, The Poor Boy, Mother's Darling Jack, Tellerchen, and The Fairy Aurora. Many of the Romanian fairy tales in "Legends and Folklore: Eighteen Fairy Tales from Romania" start out with something like "once upon a time, something happened. If it hadn't happened, it wouldn't be told." Regardless of your interest in Romanian folklore, legends, or fairy tales, you're bound to enjoy the timeless stories contained in this book.