Book excerpt: By the Winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Children’s Literature Albert the Glassblower and Sofia are the loving parents of little Klas and Klara. Albert makes the most beautiful glass bowls and vases (unfortunately they are so impractical that no one will buy them), while Sofia supports the family by working in the fields. Every year Albert goes to the fair to try to sell his wares, and sometimes Sofia and the children go too. At the fair the family meets Flutter Mildweather, a weaver of magical rugs that foretell the future, and Klas and Klara come the attention of the splendid Lord and Lady of All Wishes Town, who have everything they want except for one thing: children. Full of curious and vivid characters—like the one-eyed raven Wise Wit, who can only see the bright side of life, and the monstrous governess Nana, whose piercing song can shatter glass—The Glassblower’s Children also ponders such serious matters as what it means to find meaningful work and the difference between what you want and what you need. In The Glassblower’s Children Maria Gripe has drawn on fairy tales and Norse myths to tell a thrilling story with a very modern sensibility.