I tell Princess Mi-Ah stories out loud to Mi-Ah when she is lying in bed, either at naptime or evening bedtime. I try to make them interactive too, i.e. asking her to fill in parts of the story. Not only does it make it more fun, but it can also add more of a learning element to it. So that’s why in some of the stories you’ll see some comments added, indicating suggested moments for interaction with your child. Though it’s not a requirement, of course. Sometimes a kid just wants to listen.
While in some cases, there is a ‘lesson’, but I try to keep the stories less about the parents or some authority figure telling the children what to do, and more about letting the children discover things on their own and learning from their own mistakes. Even if this can lead them into pretty scary situations. I don’t like talking down to kids so I feel my stories can be a bit ‘darker’ compared to what I see on the shelves for Mi-Ah’s toddler age group. But this doesn’t mean I have gory, nasty violence. Mi-Ah finds the tension of being in a scary or difficult situation really exciting. And when Princess Mi-Ah is able to work her way out of it she goes nuts. I want to inspire my children to learn to think creatively and develop the confidence to solve their own problems. Within in reason of course. Well, enough of that.
This page is an overview of the characters and places and other bits of information to help in case you didn’t start reading the stories from the beginning, because I don’t want to repeat in every story what Princess Mi-Ah looks like, for example. I continue to update it as Princess Mi-Ah’s fantasy world develops. I only wish I had good enough illustration skills to draw a map for you as well.
Carolyn
The Castle
Every Princess Mi-Ah story begins with a short paragraph where the castle is described as being on top of a flower-covered hill. Well, it’s going to have to be a huge hill because the castle is meant to be large. It’s the usual castle with towers, several chambers, and multiple floors. There are also many scary and hidden places throughout the castle, which I’m also still discovering myself. The main living areas are pretty standard. You have your living area, library, kitchen, bed chambers, etc. In addition to these, it’s also worth describing the areas below.
Red Tower and Blue Tower. Both are very tall towers with long winding staircases leading up to combined living and working quarters. Despite being part of the castle, the towers are able to operate quite independently. In fact, they have their own supporting households. There will probably be more towers added later, but for now, this what is used in stories so far. They are inhabited by two different people along with their supporting staff.
Royal Garden. When exiting to the back of the castle, you will find yourself in a very large, elaborate, well-maintained garden. Since the castle is on top of a hill, I still haven’t made up in my mind whether the Royal Garden begins on the hill or at the bottom of the hill. Anyway, it’s mean to have several themed sections. Ones mentioned so far include a Butterfly Garden, Play Garden, the Orchard.
Main characters living in the Castle
Princess Mi-Ah. (Pronounced exactly like the name, ‘Mia’.) The protagonist of all of the stories so far. But this may change. At the time of writing these stories, the real Mi-Ah is around 3.5 years old. But the character, Princess Mi-Ah, is a bit older. Around 8-ish, I’d say. Princess Mi-Ah is adventurous, fearless, outgoing, and sometimes quite naughty. She is also kind and generous, and enjoys making people (or creatures) happy. She is not afraid to contradict or challenge other’s thinking, but with the intent to make things better, not to be hurtful. As for what she looks like – she’s a bit taller and bulkier than normal (not some delicate flower), long dark brown hair that is somewhat wavy and with fringe (bangs in the States), and dark brown eyes. Her face shape is cross between round and heart-shaped as she does have a delicate chin. Very much based on the real Mi-Ah.
Prince Boerie. (Pronounced ‘boor-ee’.) This is Princess Mi-Ah’s younger brother. In real life, her brother is around 18 months at the time of story writing, but his name is actually ‘I-An’. The name, “Boerie”, is a nickname that started from Mi-Ah not being able to correctly pronounce the Dutch word ‘broertje’, which means ‘little brother’ (pronounciation ‘broor-chuh’). Instead she said ‘boertje’ (no ‘r’, so becomes ‘boor-chuh’) which actually means ‘little FARMER’. We thought it was so cute, so it stuck, and evolved into Boerie. Prince Boerie, the character, is mean to be a personification of I-An, who is more introverted, thoughtful. Prince Boerie is a creative, social and affectionate little boy. Since he’s the younger one, he also likes to follow big sister around, but still maintains his own strong sense of self. He looks like a boy version of Princess Mi-Ah, but his head is longer, more oval-shaped and he has a cleft chin. His hair is somewhat lighter than Princess Mi-Ah’s, and it’s kept very closely cropped. Also based on the real boy.
The Queen (Mother) and The King (Father). The Queen and King characters are not really the focus of the story, so these characters are less developed compared to Princess Mi-Ah and Prince Boerie. Their primary purpose is to provide parental support just like any of us by doing such things as providing love, attention, guidelines, setting boundaries, and, not to mention, discipline when needed.
Cook. A warm, affable, giving, favorite ‘aunt’ character. She knows everyone’s favorite dish in the castle and often caters to these wishes. When someone in the castle is feeling lousy, they often find themselves in the kitchen getting some comfort food prepared by Cook.
Gardener. An introverted, kind-hearted, lover of plants and animals. He is all about precision and attention to detail. This is all reflected in the beauty of the Royal Garden he maintains.
Tailor. A lover of the aesthetics in life. Like Gardener, also detail-oriented, but more in terms of how things are viewed or perceived in social situations. Tailor is friendly, chatty and fun to be around.
Outside the Castle
Flower Meadow
When you exit the Royal Garden, there is a well-worn path that will take you to the flower garden. A favorite haunt for Princess Mi-Ah, Prince Boerie as well as several magical creatures they encounter. The Flower Meadow if filled with flowers of every color, size, shape imaginable. There are thousands of butterflies and hundreds of birds flitting about.
There aren’t any characters that live in the Flower Meadow as of yet, but these will be developed soon enough.
The Dark Forest
Boundary to around 2 sides of the Flower Meadow (again, wish I had a map!), you will find the Dark Forest. It is filled with dark, creepy looking trees. In fact, all of the vegatation found in the Dark Forest is black and rotted. Everyone (except Princess Mi-Ah, of course) avoids the Dark Forest as there are many rumours of scary monsters. There is also an enchanted path that begins (and ends) at the edge of the Flower Meadow. In one story, Princess Mi-Ah discovers the secret to this enchanted path. See “Princess Mi-Ah and the Dark Forest” story.
Golum the giant. He is ugly, dirty and ill-mannered. But underneath that rocky exterior he is extremely intelligent and very moral. Unknown to nearly everyone, he is also a wizard. Princess Mi-Ah meets Golum for the first time in “Princess Mi-Ah and the Dark Forest”.
Mastrilla the Grey. A dear friend to Golum the giant, Mastrilla is a giant grey, furry spider. See “Princess Mi-Ah and the Giant Spider”. Surprisingly, Mastrilla is insecure and does not like the solitary existence typical for spiders. Luckily she has found companionship in Golum.
The Trees where the fairies live
Along the bath to the village, past the Dark Forest, is a tiny cluster of trees. No one notices it really. But if you look really close, you’ll see the tiny fairy homes and the ‘fairy berries’. See “Princess Mi-Ah and the fairy.”
Tulip the fairy. She’s cheeky and smart-mouthed. She’s brave and adventurous, so she gets alont with Princess Mi-Ah great. She’s got red hair and wings, with green-tinted skin. Her sisters are also named after flowers – Lily, Lavender and Rose. See “Princess Mi-Ah and the Fairy’.
The Village
Drexa the shop keeper. Drexa is known as a ‘witch’. She looks like a witch and sounds like a witch and has all kinds of creepy things her in shop. But mother says she is not. See ‘Princess Mi-Ah and the witch’.
House of Monkeys. This is a house designed especially for children to play. As you can guess it has a sort of jungle theme. There are slides, swings and nature scenes that the children of the village can enjoy on rainy days. See ‘Princess Mi-Ah and the House of Monkeys.’
Other interesting characters or places or things
Baloo – the Magic Clown. He is a mysterious performer who comes to perform at the village for a limited time. The entire village is crazy about him and he draws a huge crowd. See “Princess Mi-Ah and the Magic Clown.”
Galoopely – the baby elephant. All Mi-Ah’s creation! Okay, many things were based on Disney’s Dumbo, but me and Mi-Ah added our own twists. See “Princess Mi-Ah and the Deep Hole.”
Oteum – the Vasril dragon. A Vasril tiny dragon helps one sleep by emitting a vapor that makes you feel drowsy and watching over you as you sleep. Oteum means ‘sanctuary’ in Latin. See “Princess Mi-Ah doesn’t want to sleep alone”.
Gasher – the mean giant. Red-headed and red-bearded, this mean giant loves to eat humans. He terrorises the villagers in “Princess Mi-Ah and the mean giant”.
