The Little German Gnome

By Dan S. Terrell and Jane T. Connolly

A sister and brother, visiting their grandparents' house, wander into the dark, dangerous woods-to discover that kind, loving creatures are looking out for them.

One of them is the Little Kobold named Albrecht. Kobolds are small forest gnomes who secretly help the humans in their valley. He rescues Annika and Martin and brings them to shel

• Language: English
• Publisher: Artful Options
• Release date: Jun 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781734859621

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The Little German Gnome

©2020 Heike E. Terrell

Story by Dan S. Terrell

Illustrated by Jane T. Connolly

ISBN 978-8-218-09942-8 Hardcover

ISBN 978-1-7348596-0-7 Paperback

ISBN 978-1-7348596-1-4 ePub

Library of Congress Control Number

German Language First Edition:

Albrecht, der Kleine Kobold ©2011 Dan S. Terrell

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Book design by StoriesToTellBooks.com

Publisher’s Imprint: Artful Options

Visit the website at allartfulopions.com

Dan S. Terrell was a career Foreign Service Officer. He served with the Agency for International Development, Department of State, spending lengthy tours in Afghanistan and Indonesia, as well as temporary assignments in Africa, Asia and South America. He met and married his wife in Afghanistan, where her father served in the German Embassy. They visited Germany often, and since the fall of the Berlin Wall they took a particular liking to the former East, especially Leipzig and surrounding areas.

Dan has written a trio of novellas with illustrations for children and adults set in the Erzgebirge, the Ore Mountains, of formerly East Germany. They are, in order, The Little German Gnome, The Green Witch, and Mitzy & Blitzy. The first book in the series has also been published in Germany in German, as Albrecht, der Kleine Kobold.

Drawing on his passion for J.S. Bach, Dan Terrell also published an exciting novel of mayhem, murder, music, and romance during the Bachfest 2000 in Leipzig. On Deep Bachground, first published in 2014, is being released in a second edition.

Jane T. Connolly has been interested in the fine arts since she was a child, when her favorite possession was a box of watercolors. As an adult, she worked for companies in New York City and Washington, DC, and for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on movie productions that were filmed on locations in England, Ireland, Spain, and Italy.

Jane rediscovered her love for watercolors after settling in D.C. and took it up seriously, studying at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia. In her home studio she creates beautifully executed and detailed paintings. On reading The Little German Gnome in draft, she was inspired to create illustrations for the book so that readers would see what a Kobold family and their neighbors look like. Connolly has also painted illustrations for the second book in the series, The Green Witch, and the third, Mitzy and Blitzy. She is the author’s sister.

Chapter One

In the Erzgebirge, Germany

(In the Ore Mountains, Germany)

We are running.

Running as fast as we can down the mountain slope, between the pine trees, and through the deep shadows, yet Martin is too slow. I am nine and a half and he is six. And his legs are about half as long as mine, so he can run half as fast.

Hurry, I yell.

Then I grab his hand and pull him along but carefully. I don’t want him to fall. That would be very bad!

For once Martin doesn’t mind my taking his hand and, anyway, he’s too out of breath to complain. He’d better not complain. He’s the one who got us into this.

We race around a big pine tree and nearly slip and fall.

If only we could run like the little man, a forest gnome I think, a Kobold, who’s far ahead of us, leading the way.

He runs a lot like father skis. He doesn’t look at all like father, who’s tall and very handsome, and father doesn’t have a gray beard. But the Kobold does sway and glide as he runs and he’s fast.

Of course there isn’t any snow now. It’s September but there are lots of slippery pine needles.

Come, come on children!