The Candy Compass

Leo adores sweets above all else, and on a bright morning he heads to the marketplace with his canvas satchel swinging beside him. There an old woman named Gran, her hair in a silver bun and wire-rimmed glasses on her nose, gives him a small round compass with a needle shaped like a candy cane. It points, she says, toward the nearest sweet surprise, though she also reminds him that sweets are best when shared. Leo hardly takes this in before rushing off to follow the needle.

At the first stall he meets Pip, a tiny compass keeper with mint-green skin, tufty white hair and shimmering wings, who leads him from truffles to toffee apples to giant swirl lollipops. He also befriends Mara, a girl with long black braids and a woven basket, who offers her lemon drops. This gentle tale by Yavuz DEMİRKIRAN follows Leo through one lively market day, and it can be read on Online Masal.