Far from the continents lies a special island where the Painted People live. But it wasn’t always so—until Jozhенька and her companions defeated the cannibals and put the dreadful five-horned monster on the true path. Alexander Izrailevich Sharov, also known as Sher Izrailevich Nyrenberg, was a writer of children’s literature and science fiction, as well as a journalist and war correspondent. His work is addressed with equal warmth to both children and adults and is known not only in Russia, but beyond its borders. The author’s greatest fame came from fairy-tale stories, especially such works as “The Cuckoo Chick, the Prince from Our Yard,” “Dandelion Boy and Three Little Keys,” and “The Adventures of Jozhеньka and Other Painted Little People.”