The Humpherys Family

The Book of Fairy Poetry

Record Added: 8/23/2009
A Favorite Book
Author 
Illustrator 
Topic Fairytales, Myths, Folklo
 Poetry
Publisher Harper Collins Publishers
ISBN 0688140041   Year 2004
Age 9-12   Pages 160
Description White printed dustjacket
 
Filled with the stunning illustrations we've come to expect from Hague, this oversize collection is divided into four thematic chapters: "Where Fairies Dance," "Fairy Justice," "The Road to Fairyland," and "Fairy Helpers." Within each section are poems of varying length, all of which have language as rich and varied as the art. Poets represented include Shakespeare, Rachel Field, Walter de la Mare, Sir Walter Scott, and Annie R. Rentoul. Each selection creates a world in which fairies, elves, goblins, and other fantastical creatures coincide easily with the children who see them and believe in them.

Similar in style to Cicely Mary Barker's The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies, Hague's beautiful illustrations portray a much more realized world that exists among the treetops, deep within the earth and roots, and in the stars above us. This is a world with tiny creatures flitting among green leaves, enormous gnarled trees, and frothy waves; these beings, both beautiful and fearsome, beckon to children on every page.