Heinz ( Janisch

Retells Baron Munchausen's boastful account of some of his incredible adventures around the world, including riding a cannonball during a spy mission and entering a whale's mouth to hear a musical concert.

"Through an enchanting conversation with a young girl in a horse-drawn coach, Hans Christian Andersen shares his life's struggles, dreams, and triumphs--whose threads can be found woven into his greatest stories."-- Book jacket flap.

On a cold winter afternoon, Grandfather tells his grandson the adventures that made his cheeks so red: kicking a football so high it wouldn't come down, building a wonderful bridge to visit his love, coming home from the war. As Grandfather talks, he fades until he is only a shadow on the floor beside his chair in an empty room. Others remind the boy that Grandfather died a year ago. Were the tales a memory or not?