Fira✦

Her large amber eyes are the first thing you notice. Then comes everything else: pink and cream petals, wonderfully curled mushroom caps, and little frills that move whenever she tilts her head in curiosity. She looks as though an unusual flower and a peculiar forest mushroom thought up a new way of living together, then decided to set off on an adventure.

Her body is as soft and delicate as flower petals. Its layers ripple gently as she walks, and after the rain tiny droplets gather along their edges. Fira usually forgets to shake them off. Something more interesting always catches her eye first.

Curiosity can take her a very long way.

When she was little, her whole world fitted into a single clearing. She knew every root sticking out of the ground, the most comfortable patch of moss, and the leaf that sheltered her from a downpour. One morning, however, she spotted a golden glow on the other side of the stream. She went to find out where it came from, certain she would be back before noon.

On the way she discovered a passage beneath the roots, a clearing full of floating seeds, and a mushroom whose gills hummed softly in the wind. When she finally reached the light, it came from an enormous flower opening high above the ground. Fira sat beneath it and watched until it grew late. She came home tired, her petals full of seeds and her head full of questions. The next day she already wanted to know what lay around the next bend.

There is one everyday need that even the finest adventure cannot replace: a hug.

Her eyes also come in handy at mealtimes. Fira focuses on a chosen mouthful, and a moment later it disappears. The food does not pass through her eyes; it simply vanishes from the plate, as though someone had performed a tiny magic trick.

Strawberries and cream are her favourite things to make disappear this way.

There is one condition: someone else has to be there. Fira can sit patiently in front of a full little bowl, waiting for company. Only when a second helping arrives and someone settles down beside her do her eyes light up with that familiar delight.

Of course, Fira has her moods too. She can take offence at the smallest thing, fold her arms, and turn away with such an endearing expression that apologies sometimes arrive before anyone has worked out what happened. She is also learning to come back after a sulk, admit a mistake, and be the first to open her arms for a hug. Usually she cannot hold out for long; she is far too curious about what everyone else is doing.

Now Fira invites you to join her adventures too. Her colouring pages are full of forest discoveries, extraordinary places, little misunderstandings, and meetings that grow into friendships.

Make yourself at home and get your colouring pencils ready. Fira has already spotted something around the next bend.