These are the gardeners.

They plant a seed that grows into a story.

They prepare the earth:
"mix and mash and mulch and mush."

They help Ivan to escape.

They give him a horse -
"ride for your life."

Later they turn themselves into spiders.

Again they help Ivan to escape.

They are glad when it rains:

"the gentle rain

the dry earth
the gentle rain
together give life

give life to the seed that grows."

This is Prince Ivan.

He doesn’t talk.

What use is a boy that doesn’t speak?

But when the gardeners tell him that his sister is a witch and that he must escape - then he talks.

He meets two old ladies who are sewing.

He meets the Tree-Puller Giant.

He meets the Mountain-Masher Giant.

Then he meets the Little Sister of the Sun.

After many adventures he manages to defeat Baby Iron Teeth.

He decides to stay with the Little Sister of the Sun.

"This is where I’m meant to be."

Here are The King and The Queen.

They are fed up with Ivan because he doesn’t talk.

So they grow a new baby from a seed.

And they add lots of extra stuff.

When the baby is born she can talk - and she also has Iron Teeth!!.

They are happy that the baby can talk but worried about how much she eats.

Later, when Ivan comes back to the Palace, the King and the Queen are not there.

What has happened to them?

Are they hiding?

This is Baby Iron Teeth herself!

She wants food, food, food.

She wants meat, meat, meat.

She eats a whole cow.

She grows as tall as a tree.

With her iron teeth she bites
she crunches
she chews.

She’s a monster
she’s a witch.

She is hungry
she is lonely.

She is eating the palace roof.

These are two old ladies who sew.

They sew up the sky and the earth and the sea.

But their needles keep breaking.

Without needles they can’t sew
and then the stars will fall from the sky
the trees will fall through the earth
and the sea will drain away.

Just when the last needle has broken Ivan arrives with some fishbones.

They can use the fishbones as needles.

They give him some twine to help him.

With the twine he ties up Baby Iron Teeth.

But is that enough to stop her?

This is the Tree-Puller Giant.

He pulls up trees by the roots
and tosses them down to the ground.

But soon there won’t any more trees
to pull and pile.

Then what will happen to the Giant?

That will be the end of him.

But when there is just one last tree to pull
Ivan arrives with a bundle of twigs
that turn into new forests of trees.

So the Giant is saved.

The Giant gives Ivan some branches
to trap Baby Iron Teeth.

But will this be enough to stop her?

This is the Mountain-Masher Giant.

He tumbles down mountains
to broaden the view.

But soon there won’t any more mountains
to mash and tumble.

Then what will happen to the Giant?

That will be the end of him.

But when there is just one more mountain to mash
Ivan arrives with a handful of mud
that turns into new rows of mountains.

So the Giant is saved.

The Giant gives Ivan some rocks
to tumble on top of Baby Iron Teeth.

But will this be enough to stop her?

Here is the Little Sister of the Sun.

She is playing with Ivan
climbing up to the tallest towers in her Palace.

From there they can see everything.

Ivan sees his sister eating up his home.

He decides he must go back
to find out what’s happening.

The Little Sister of the Sun gives him some gifts
a fistful of fishbones
a bundle of wood
and a handful of mud.

When Baby Iron Teeth attacks the Palace
the Little Sister of the Sun sees that she is a witch.

There’s only one way to win against a witch - water!

We must make it rain!

How do we make it rain?