Picture book «Klee Fairy»
This picture book tells the story of Sophie, who meets a fairy at the museum that lives in a colorful painting by Paul Klee. The fairy pulls Sophie into the painting – and just like that – they travel together to Tunisia. In the city of Kairouan, she presses her magic paintbrush into the hands of a foreign painter. And with a brushstroke, the young man becomes a famous painter: Paul Klee!
On their trip from painting to painting, Sophie and Klee Fairy experience ever-new adventures on their fantastic journey through six originals: from an Egyptian bazaar to the «Bitter-sweet Island». Then on a magic carpet, across the sea to «Ad Parnassum», the hidden mountain where all painters and musicians live.
Mit dem Adler, Paul Klee
App «Klee Art»
The interactive app invites children to find the Klee Fairy hidden within a painting in the land of colours. Here they can play with colours, forms and sounds using the fairy's magic brush. Users create their own image versions and become little Klees themselves, while getting to know Paul Klee personally as he speaks from his studio and introduces his family on a photo wall, including Bimbo the cat. The app fosters visual creativity and a love for the many forms of art, combining pedagogical value with playful discovery that children love.
In schools the app is ideal as an introduction to art education, offering a child-friendly, creative and intuitive gateway into fine arts and music. Teachers can use the picture book as a shared reading experience followed by the app for hands-on creative exploration. The combination supports art curriculum introductions, cross-curricular projects linking art with music and storytelling, and encourages independent artistic experimentation among primary-aged pupils.
Ad Parnassum, Paul Klee
Child-friendly – creative – intuitive
With «KleeFairy», author Roland Zoss once again opens the door to the visual arts and music. The work is a playful, atmospheric adventure in color for little explorers.
Early in his career, the Swiss children's songwriter created with «ABC DINO Xenegugeli» a masterpiece of images and sounds. The ABC Dino app became a successful ABC classic, recognized worldwide as a symbol of Swiss quality. It has received numerous awards.
Flight over the Sea, Karin Widmer
The making of
In 1982, I met Annette at the École des Beaux-Arts in Avignon. Twenty years later, we ran into each other in the alleys of Bern. She told me about a man with the same Bernese accent whom she had married: Alexander Klee!
This encounter with Paul Klee's grandson led to new friendships. A vision took shape: a picture book that would transport children into the world of art in an imaginative, non-didactic way.
With the support of Creaviva and the newly founded Zentrum Klee Foundation, the picture book was ready for the museum's opening in 2005. Unfortunate circumstances lead the publisher to back out despite its initial commitment... and the idea ended up in a drawer!
Twenty years later – after the publication of Jimmy Flitz and the Secret of the Trees – Baeschlin Edition showed interest in the work about Klee. Karin Widmer re-illustrates the story. The book is to be published in mid-August 2026; followed by the app.
CHF/Euro 29.80
ISBN: 978-3-03893-142-3
Year of Publication: 2026
Credits for the support:
ZENTRUM PAUL KLEE | ALEXANDER KLEE + ANNE-MARIE COLL | CREAVIVA BERN & RENÉ RIOS | KUNSTMUSEUM BERN
