It's a sunny afternoon in Kullerbü and Paul has arranged to play with his friends. He's already waiting at their meeting place, the colourful windmill, when his friend Kira the cat comes rolling up in a hurry. She rushed to be on time but didn't quite make it. 'Sorry I'm late,' Kira pants and has to take a deep breath.
'What shall we play today? Maybe tag?' asks Paul. While Kira is still thinking, a large flock of birds flies low over their heads. 'Spring is here, spring is here!' they squawk excitedly and wheel round in a circle. And just as quickly as they arrived, they fly off again.
Paul and Kira the cat are left puzzled. 'Come on, let's go and look for spring together!' suggests Paul. 'Oh yes!' Kira cheers.
First they roll down to the pond where the little brave green frog lives. If spring is anywhere to be found, surely it's at the pond? 'Hello, have you seen spring?' calls Paul when they arrive at the pond. But the frog is in a hurry and has no time to answer. 'I've got to go … to the big tower … to practise parachute jumps,' he mumbles, 'in spring that's just perfect!' And with that he hops off.
'What's going on with everyone today?' Paul wonders. No sooner has he said it than a loud rattle and clatter sounds in the sky. That can only mean one thing: one of the cheeky blue mice is doing another flight over Kullerbü in her aeroplane. Paul and Kira look up eagerly and squint. And sure enough: a mouse is already flying past at high speed just below the clouds — towing a banner with a message behind her. 'HOORAY, SPRING IS HERE!' is written on it in large letters.
It seems everyone else has already seen spring, only Paul and Kira haven't. Disappointed, they roll on and shortly afterwards meet the little brown dog ambling down the road. 'Hello,' Paul cheerfully greets the dog. 'Have you perhaps seen spring?' 'Of course,' says the dog, grinning at them. 'Shall I tell you where you can find it?' 'Yesssss!' Paul shouts straight away.
'Spring is everywhere. You just have to look very closely … and listen!' answers the dog and trots off cheerfully. Once again Paul and Kira are left puzzled and then slowly roll in the opposite direction. And then suddenly they see it: on both sides of the path the first delicate flowers have opened, filling the air with a wonderful scent. And the leaves on the trees are shining a bright green.
And that's not all: suddenly they can hear cheerful birdsong and the buzzing of busy bees everywhere. 'So the dog was right after all,' Paul finally says. 'Spring really is everywhere.'
