Fairies play a large role in the lives of Prince Saphir and Serpentine and their families. The fairies place magical mirrors in the rooms of both the young boy and the young girl, enchanted so that each youth gazes upon the other. Saphir discovers a little frog that leads him on a series of adventures that eventually lead to a happy ending once he has proved himself honest and worthy.

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a Scottish writer who collected fairy and folk tales from various cultures and put them together in twelve volumes of tales. He was noted for taking the tales from as many original sources as possible, keeping the fairy tales close to their intended meanings.