The main hero of the fairy tale will become the California Condor one of the largest birds that lives in the South and East of Arizona and California. Condor population has dropped sharply in the 20th century: large birds make great targets for hunters. The Iberian Lynx will also become one of the characters. It is an incredibly magnificent animal that lives in the mountains of Spain.

The project was launched within the framework of the Football for Friendship ecological initiative in order to attract attention of people to the problem of animal extinction. The fairy tale will be published in July. It will be distributed around the world.

Anna Vold is the author of the children's book “ABC Rhymes. Mr. Fox Letter Box”. It helps children learn the English alphabet through poems. In the USA, Anna is also known for developing study programs oriented to improve language and communication skills. The author lives in California with her husband and two children.

"As a mother of a small boy and girl, I think it is important to tell kids that because of the human impact whole species of birds and animals can become extinct. Through this fairy tale I want to help children and their parents to understand how important it is to preserve the species diversity of our planet," says Anna Vold, the author of the fairy tale.

Irina Golina-Sagatelian, a designer and animator from Canada will draw the cover of the fairy tale. The artist has worked on projects like Rick and Morty, My Little Pony, Dawn of the Croods, and Carmen Sandiego. She has also collaborated with DreamWorks, Netflix, Disney, and many other studios.

"The cover will show one of the fairy tale's scenes. The mighty California Condor and the magnificent Iberian Lynx will become colorful fairy tale heroes and the symbol of fighting against the extinction of the animal's natural habitat," says Irina Golina-Sagatelian, the author of the cover.

"All participants of Football for Friendship do their best to preserve nature. It would be great to learn more about endangered animals because it isn't always interesting to read about it in textbooks, but with a fairy tale you could really feel the characters, love them, and help preserve them," says Mats Gouka, a Young Journalist from the Netherlands.

The FOOTBALL FOR FRIENDSHIP ECOLOGICAL INITIATIVE is aimed at the promotion of the values of careful attitude and care towards nature. For example, the International Teams of Friendship are named after the extinct and rare animals for the second consecutive year. This year, the Football for Friendship World Championship will take place in Madrid on May 31 and June 1. Asian Elephant, California Condor, Tasmanian Devil, Oriental Stork, Fossa, Tatu-canastra, and other International Teams of Friendship will become the participants of the Championship.

INFORMATION:

The INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S SOCIAL PROGRAMME FOOTBALL FOR FRIENDSHIP has been implemented by GAZPROM since 2013. The key values promoted by the programme's participants are friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, traditions, and honour. Football for Friendship is supported by UEFA, FIFA, International Olympic Committee, football federations of different countries, children’s international charity funds, famous athletes, and the leading football clubs of the world. For the previous six seasons, the programme has brought more than 6 thousand participants in more than 211 countries together and acquired over 5 million supporters including famous athletes, artists, and politicians.