It was our honeymoon! Allen, my husband and passionate (opera) lover extraordinaire, knew that the New York Metropolitan Opera's 2000 production of Richard Wagner's The Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen, “The Ring of the Nibelung”) would be a fabulous way to start our life together. He was right! He swept me off my feet!

As the story and intense music unfolded, the stage was transformed into a big storybook, transporting me into a magical kingdom of immortals, mermaids, dwarves and giants. We rushed to the Met Opera Shop to see if there was a children's book on The Ring Cycle for our 3 year-old grandson, Max.

Unfortunately, there was none.

Seeing another fabulous production by the Seattle Opera in 2001 rekindled our search for a children's book. The Opera Shop did not have anything except for a 1939 Metropolitan Opera “Authorized Edition” of Der Ring des Nibelungen written by Robert Lawrence and published by Grosset & Dunlap. A collector's item! Internet searches for this set have shown very few copies for sale. There is another rare and out-of-print 1964 adaptation of The Ring by John Updike that was published by Alfred A. Knopf. In 2002, P. Craig Russell, did a beautiful graphic version published by Dark Horse.

Through the years, I have written several versions of Das Rheingold to read to Max, my nephews, and nieces. Max read this current version a few days before he saw his very first opera, Seattle Opera's 2005 production of Das Rheingold.
And how was it for Max? The wide smile on his face, his continuous applause when the curtain went down, his inquiries about the subsequent operas, and his requests to see other operas with Grandpa and Grandma made us think that he loved it.

The dream to share my experience with Max was fulfilled. It is my hope that other children will share the same experience and that reading this story will stimulate their interest in the opera.

Available at fine bookstores everywhere