For all those who have always shied away from the sheer length of the original Urs Widmer has carefully abridged the wonderful Tales From the Arabian Nights while preserving their oriental flavour. Highly vivid and amusing, he recounts the six most famous tales of the immortal Sheherazade: The Fisherman and the Jinni, Alibaba and the Forty Thieves, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, The Magic Horse, The Adventures of Haroun-al-Raschid, and Sinbad the Sailor.
As Hermann Hesse pointed out, the original of this great collection of fairytales is »a source of infinite pleasures and the most opulent picture book in the world«. To ensure that this holds true, Tatjana Hauptmann has richly illustrated this work, conveying Oriental lavishness and subtlety.

»I like being Swiss« Dürrenmatt often said. The Switzerland he was talking about was not the nation celebrated in myths, but the juxtaposition and problematic co-existence of its four different cultures. A small nation which emerged from its conquest by Napoleon, Switzerland was for the pragmatic Swiss writer a political opportunity: a confederation of states in miniature, and as such a kind of model for Europe. As a fatherland, Switzerland often annoyed him. He made fun of the discrepancy between the small-state reality and its heroic history. But even as a very young man, Dürrenmatt was disturbed by the very fact which now irritates the whole world and a great many Swiss: the way in which Switzerland has covered up its past – its isolated role and its sparing in World War II – under a cloak of legends.

The first Diogenes Hausbuch appeared over 20 years ago: Das große Liederbuch, regarded by many as Tomi Ungerer's masterpiece. Now, at last, Diogenes has published another genuine house-book, with numerous illustrations by Tomi Ungerer. Das große Katzenbuch with the best stories, poems and aphorisms about cats from world literature, chosen by Anne Schmucke with approximately 100 beautiful illustrations by Tomi Ungerer.

As Novalis said, »Everything is a fairy tale.« But not all fairy tale anthologies are like The Giant Book of Fairy Tales by Tatjana Hauptmann – a true classic for the entire family, a book of magical beauty. This collection of the 100 best fairy tales from Europe is magnificently adorned with a colourful and enchanting palette of 600 drawings and watercolours.

The artist Tatjana Hauptmann, recipient of many international awards, spent several years working on her meticulous illustrations of ›The Great Book of Legends‹. The Best Medieval Legends of Gods, Heroes and Knights, edited by Johannes Carstensen. The result is two beautiful volumes, the first of which has now been issued. The unique drawings and colour plates breathe life into the world of the Nibelungen, King Arthur, Robin Hood, Tristan and Isolde and many others, and take us to a land of fantasy which it is always a joy to visit.

More than 200 German folk songs and children's songs from the 14th to the 20th century, compiled by Anne Diekmann with the help of Willi Gohl. Illustrated with more than 150 pictures by Tomi Ungerer.