★Maria Papayanni has been nominated for the International Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writers in both 2020 and 2022.
She believes that books have wings: "Children know very well that when the words 'once upon a time' are spoken, a door opens to a place where anything is possible. Children need imaginary worlds in order to understand everyday life and its challenges."
★The King Who Had Too Much of Everything has been sold to Romania and North Macedonia. It was awarded the White Ravens Award in 2016! Using an allegorical narrative, it explores the complex relationship between fear and joy, possession and loss, and depicts the interweaving of reality and dreams and their impact on one's state of mind.
★The Moonling has been sold to Romania. A gentle and poetic story about friendship, loneliness, selfishness, love, trust, and uniqueness. Because when we share with others, life is filled with beautiful and vibrant colors.
★Goodnight, Mama is a bedtime book specially created for children. Open this fantastical bedtime story and let those classic fairy-tale characters we all know and love become guardian angels in children's dreams. Bringing together the essence of multiple classic fairy tales, it blends different fairy-tale worlds together, leading children into a world of boundless imagination.
★The Path to Love is a whimsical and magical story that encourages all children to bravely pursue their dreams. No matter how long or difficult the road may be, believe that one day you will find your own patch of blue sky, that place that brings warmth and happiness.
★To Together won the Greek IBBY Award! It is a celebration of children's imagination and brotherhood.
★Tell, Tell a Story features two completely different children who share the exact same dream—one is a human girl, and the other is a ladybug girl who feeds on stories!
★Thekla’s Treasure is a story about friendship, memories, imagination, growth, courage, and sharing, as well as everyone's inner fears and longing for friendship. Through the interaction between Ms. Tekla and Hashim, readers can feel the importance of connection and support between people.
★Τhe Pot that Sang Stories tells of warm family moments together. Lia loves listening to stories the most. What kind of magic does Grandma's recipe hold, that it can bring everyone together to share stories?
★The Adventures of Nils, Heidi, and The Silver Skates are Papayanni's retellings of her favorite classic stories in fairy-tale form.
★As If By Magic won the IBBY Greece Award and the Diavazo Literary Magazine Award! When little Eva discovers that the wishes she makes for people come true in reverse, she begins using her mysterious power to take revenge on the injustices of the world. This is a compelling novel that boldly touches on hot-button issues such as divorce and racism.
★The Lonesome Tree has been sold to Russia, Serbia, and North Macedonia. It won the Greek National Award and the Diavazo Literary Magazine Award! The Lonely Tree—a legend of an isolated village. A boy raised on legends and fairy tales. A woman everyone says is mad. That lonely tree gazes out at the sea and brings people together.
★Shoes with Wings has been sold to Russia and North Macedonia. Winner of the IBBY Greece Award! A book about poetry, about small miracles and great struggles, about the search for a utopia, about ordinary people who hold on to their dreams.
★The Golden Oars has been sold to Hungary and Russia. It was shortlisted for the Reader Literary Magazine Award, shortlisted for the Greek National Award, and selected for the ELNIPLEX Gold List! With her characteristic tenderness, Maria Papayanni tells a story about friendship, love, and the power of sharing—because sometimes, "together" can transcend all languages and all eras...
★Full English translations are available upon request.

The series includes 15 titles:
Picture Books:
The King Who Had Too Much of Everything, The Moonling, Goodnight, Mama, The Path to Love, To Together, Tell, Tell a Story, Thekla’s Treasure, Τhe Pot that Sang Stories, Say it With a Fairytale...The Adventures of Nils, Heidi, The Silver Skates

Children's Literature (Novels):
As If By Magic, The Lonesome Tree, Shoes with Wings, The Golden Oars

★A picture book full of children's fun and magic, encouraging all children to bravely follow their dreams, even if the road is long and hard, but also believe that one day you will find the blue sky that belongs to you, and the place that makes you feel incredibly warm and happy.
★Suitable for ages 3+, English translation available.

On a farm full of love and friendship lives a curious little hedgehog with a nice name - Eva. Every morning, Eva says hello to the sun and bounces off in search of a delicious breakfast. But she always had a dream in her heart to find the magical home her mum had told her about, a blue meadow called the sea.

One day, Eva plucks up her courage and embarks on an adventure to find her dream home. She reluctantly said goodbye to her best friends on the farm, and on her journey, she encountered all kinds of challenges and difficulties, but she never gave up. Eventually, when she reaches the end of the hedge, she finds a group of hedgehogs just like her and she feels a sense of belonging. Eva realises that her home is more than just a location, it is a feeling, a sense of peace of mind and belonging.

Maria Papayanni (Author)
She studied Greek Language and Literature and worked as a journalist in radio, television, newspapers, and magazines.
Her first book was published in 2001. Ever since she has devoted herself to writing stories, fairy tales, and novels. She loves magical, traditional tales and narrates them to children when she visits schools. She also loves theatre and has penned librettos and verses for musical theatre. Her first book, "Goodnight, Mama," was published in 2001, the same year her second child was born. Her books have enjoyed great success with children and have won numerous awards in Greece, including:
· In 2002, she co-authored "Catch them!" with Philippos Mandilaras, which won the Merit Award by the Greek section of IBBY.
· "As If By Magic" won Greek IBBY Award and the Diavazo Literary Magazine Award
· "The Lonesome Tree" won the State Prize and the Diavazo Literary Magazine Award.
"You Will Win Another Day" has been translated into multiple languages.
· She was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2020 and 2022.

After all, she believes that books have wings:
“Children know well that when the sentence Once upon a time is uttered the door opens to the place where anything may happen. And children need the world of imagination in order to understand everyday life and its difficulties.”

In her own words:
I was born in Larissa, under Mount Olympus, where the 12 gods of antiquity lived.
I grew up in a large family where everyone had the gift of telling stories. Not fairy tales, but everyday life stories, which were told over huge tables in the summer; stories would add taste in our life, the way salt and pepper add flavour to our food. I recall tears alternating with laughter. These stories seemed to me like miracles, because they could release great powers. I don’t mean to say that everyone in my family was a bit of a liar, but exaggeration was something common. That’s how I came to believe that in the quiet, provincial town where I was growing up anything could happen. Growing up, instead of confessing to myself that my family used to exaggerate, I chose to believe that we were ‘special’ and ‘unique’. And I also decided that this was the only way I could tolerate reality and put up with everyday difficulties. By making up stories…
With stories, I have always had a season ticket in my pocket which allowed me to freely come and go between everyday life and the land where… anything may happen.

Louiza Karageorgiou (Illustrator)
She is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Athens, Greece. She studied in Vakalo Art & Design College and has been working for many years as a freelance illustrator. Her work includes many children’s books, editorial illustrations, book covers, comics, film and gig posters and album covers. She loves working with watercolour, pencils and ink, and likes mixing traditional media with digital techniques. She currently works for “Efimerída ton Syntaktón” newspaper, as an illustrator, graphic and layout designer.