Dear little friends,

The book you are holding contains literary texts, poems, and prose, both old and contemporary, specially selected for you who are students in one of the two upper grades of primary school.

These texts, as you will personally discover, refer to various and very interesting issues. You will read authors who draw their material from the great historical moments of Hellenism, others who show their interest in the lives of children through their writings, at home, at school, or in society; others who vividly present human characters, and others who deal with many of today's social problems. You will also enjoy humorous literary works, travel to legendary and imaginative places with myths and fairy tales from the book, and find yourself mentally alongside the heroes of the stories and poems in your Anthology.

A great poet of ours, Giorgos Seferis, has said that "words for the poet are ships that make long journeys." Indeed, words and phrases in a literary work become little boats and travel far, carrying the reader's joys and difficulties. They fill him on their magical journey with various emotions: joy and anxiety, excitement and pride, sweet anticipation and contemplation. In other words, they give him aesthetic pleasure. We hope that you will also feel this pleasure when reading the texts of the "Anthology".

What we particularly want to emphasize to you is that this book comes to you as a good and faithful friend, who on the one hand dreams of playing with you, filling you with carefreeness and delight, and on the other hand, speaking to you sincerely and opening paths for creative work.

The editorial team