Fairy Houses
Author: Tracy Kane
ISBN: #0 - 9708104 - 5 - 8
Publisher: Great White Dog Picture Company 2001
Greetings all :o)
Now that Spring has sprung, most of you will want to get off the ol' backside and be out and about, doing something constructive with yourselves and your children! Therefore, this review is directed towards children out there, and those who are still kiddies at heart :o)
I know many of us within this community have children, and we bring them up with a free spirit and a wonderfully open mind, so they get to experience all the color and wonder life has to offer :o) And what better way to enjoy yourselves, and celebrate Spring than building fairy houses! When I first came across the website for fairy houses, I was totally blown away by such a simple, yet utterly marvelous concept! The book "Fairy Houses" was written and illustrated by Tracy Kane, who takes you on a lovely journey of a little girl called Kristen, living with her parents in New England. Her parents decide to visit their cottage on a small island off the beautiful coastline of Maine. They tell Kristen they've a surprise for her but she can't know what it is until they get there. Like all children, she is naturally curious as to what the surprise could be, so she tries to guess, and each time, is reminded that she'll know when they arrive.
Later, her parents take her for a walk through the woods, which is where she discovers an entire village of fairy houses, all handmade by people who visited the island. Immediately, Kristen is interested in constructing a fairy house of her own, but there is a signpost here with rules for making them, which reads:
"You may build houses small and hidden for the fairies, but please do not use living or artificial materials".
She makes use of small twigs, rocks, pebbles gathered from a nearby brook, and shells from the shoreline, and grass to construct her fairy house, and each day comes down to check to see if any fairies might have taken up residence! But each day, she only finds an insect or some other animal which has taken an interest in the house. Disappointed, she comes down early one morning before her parents got up, and checks the house one final time, but this time, things are different! The fairies show up and tell her that she was good to follow the rules of the woods, and because of the care she put into building her house, all the animals of the woods have chosen hers especially, to visit :o) The fairies decided to show Kristen a moment of magic by seeing them as a thank you to her. And then, they changed into beautiful monarch butterflies!
This book is part of an award winning series of 3 books and one video/DVD, and has been voted in the Top 10 Children's Book Sense pick, by the American Booksellers Association, and has also been given the Parents Gold Choice award. It came very highly recommended by several book reviewers and parenting magazines. I bought this book for my youngest daughter's birthday, and have since been completely fascinated with the idea of constructing a fairy house. It's a wonderful pastime, a great time out with your kids, and definitely refreshingly not part of the usual ideas we sometimes have! I highly recommend looking at the website and investing in the books. You can visit the site on http://www.fairyhouses.com and any bookseller should either have the books in stock, or you can special order them. Enjoy the coming of the warmer months! Happy reading, and happy building!
Silver Rainbolt
|