If you’re looking for tales of brave heroes, mythical creatures and talking beasts, you definitely should check out the latest issue of Storytime! It is sure satisfy even the most avid fantasy fan. 

The cover star is of course The Griffin – a mythical creature with the head, front talons and wings of an eagle and the body and hindquarters of a lion. The talented illustrator Ekaterina Savic does a great job bringing this strange creature to life. The Griffin is a creature who is both very wise and extremely dangerous – but in our fairytale, he is outwitted by a farmboy called Simple Hans, who after all it was rather clever!

Can you spot the unicorn? (she’s wearing a very cunning disguise)

Operation Unicorn is a fantasy story set in the modern day – in fact, it could take place in your neighbourhood! Luján Fernández illustrates this fun little Tale from Today of a girl who finds a lost unicorn in her garden and comes up with a plan to get it home. A tale about how magic can be found in even the most unlikely places.

Baloo’s Bath Day features two well-beloved characters from classic stories – and one of them is a talking bear! When Baloo has a honey-related mishap, it’s up to his little friend Mowgli to clean up the mess. The always-awesome Giorgia Broseghini brings her own twist to these favourites.

Talking animals also show up in The Unmannerly Tiger, a fun folk-tale from Korea with some very important lessons to teach. A monk regrets helping the tiger of the title when the beast decides to eat him – but can his wise friend, the toad, save him? William Luong captures the unique magic of the story with his gorgeous art.

The young Ada Lovelace features in our real life story this month.

Our latest Awesome Adventures tale is about a real-life heroine who was a mistress of mathematics and invented the concept of computer programming. Ada Lovelace, nicknamed The Enchantress of Number, saw mathematical equations as being like little fairies that could perform spells on numbers. Flavia Sorrentino’s lovely illustrations show her working her magic, number fairies and all.

The Around the World Tale in this issue is not about magic as such – but about how everyday things can be seen as magical! The Blacksmith and the Iron Man is a Ugandan story about a famous blacksmith. When the king tells the smith to make a living man out of iron, he must come up with a clever plan to show the king that some things cannot be done, and do so with the help of a new friend! Nicolas Maia brings this tale to life with his colourful artwork.

Our fable this month has a great tip for solving arguments!

From the beautiful Azores, comes our fable, The Magic Mouthful. L Schlissel illustrates this story about a young woman who gets given some ‘magic’ water that helps her to stop arguing with her husband. Read this to discover a secret that can help anyone to find a peaceful way forward!

Last but certainly not least we have a story from the highest mountains in Europe, the Swiss folk hero William Tell grace this issue with his bow and arrow. This mighty hero defy an evil governor and thanks to his superb skills, manages to escape the guards and become a legend that lives on in Switzerland. It’s masterfully illustrated by Caio Bucaretchi and it is sure to transport our readers to the Alps!

We certainly hope that you enjoy this fantastic issue. What is your favourite magical creature, and why do you like it? Tell us in the comments below!