We present the first and only anthology of Dutch tales in Russia, compiled based on four rare editions from the 19th and early 20th centuries, where the oral traditions of the inhabitants of the lowlands of the territory approximately corresponding to modern Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg have magically intertwined. Of the thirty tales from the land of tulips, storks, and windmills included in our collection, only six were retold in Russian in 1893 by St. Petersburg translator A. N. Galibin, while the others were published in English. We translated these tales into Russian specifically for our edition, aiming to make them accessible to today's young readers. On the pages of this book, boys and girls will meet not only their old friends mermaids, fairies, and gnomes, but also characters not found in the folktales of other nations, such as Sinterklaas and his companion Black Pete, the Queen of the Marshes, the ice master Uller, his mischievous grandson Stum, and many other amazing characters. The publication is adorned with works by Dutch artists, including such outstanding masters as Rembrandt van Rijn, Anthony van Dyck, Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Gerrit Dou, Paulus Potter, Michiel Sweerts, Gerard Ter Borch, Jan Schenckman, as well as illustrations by the famous Belgian artist and poet Jean de Boschere, who remarkably conveys the spirit of Dutch tales.
