Little Zaches is a grotesquely ugly child, abandoned by his repulsed mother. The mysterious fairy tries to make him beautiful but cannot; instead, the spirit provides Zaches with magic hairs that make others perceive him as handsome, intelligent, and charming. Zaches grows to be conceited and filled with self-importance, though his false transformation is only superficial...
This book is a condensed and simplified version of Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann’s work «Little Zaches called Zinnober» (ger. «Klein Zaches, genannt Zinnober»). The text of the fairy tale is adapted for easier perception by young children and is intended to become an early acquaintance with classics of world literature.