What fascinates me about animal stories is that they are one step further away from our “real” lives. I give my animal characters many human characteristics, but they often find their own creative solutions to questions and challenges. Just as the children of the future will always find new solutions of their own, so that the world will continue to develop.

As readers, we encounter an animal with a lot of trust and sympathy, which makes it easier for us to accept the whole range of character traits. Animals can help children to compare and name their experiences. For young children especially it is easier to identify with them. This is about basic themes such as friendship or certain fears, which are presented embedded in the animal world. Children always need new stories in which the themes that occupy them are varied.

That’s why I think it’s nice that the two curious mice Mirka and Kiki and the rabbit Ferdi are now part of it. I found it exciting that the illustrator intuitively understood and realised the characteristics of the animals very clearly, even though he lives in a different culture. This made it clear to me once again that the stories and also the characters from the Valley by the River have an intercultural effect and are understood. That’s why it’s good that they are now being published in many languages – I’m looking forward to the feedback.