Title: Child of Faerie, Child of Earth
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Jane Dyer
Publisher: Little, Brown And Company
ISBN: 0-316-96897-8
Summary: A faerie boy befriends a human girl. They strengthen their friendship in an exploration and celebration of their two worlds.
Butterfly’s notes: This poetic book is perfect fo anyone with an interest in the faerie world. While they can’t always be together, the boy and girl maintain a strong bond.
This is a good book for Halloween or harvest-time. In traditional tales, the faerie world is a beautiful but harmful place for human visitors. In modern stories and cartoons, faeries are all glitz and girly-styles. This book presents a mixture of the two, showing us a faerie hall that is enchanting and delightful, but not meant for humans. For Jane Yolen, humans can safely visit the faerie world, but they cannot stay. Perhaps the faerie world of dancing and play is a metaphor for childhood; the little girl in the story can enjoy it for a time, but must in the end return to her farming lifestyle.
Categories: ages 7-9, ages 10-12, fairy tales, fantasy, picture books
Spoot said,
January 6, 2009 at 1:31 am
Ah, you read me this book, this summer– I absolutely adored it, partly because Jane Yolen writes consistently good stuff, and partly because the illustrations are so gorgeous and fit the narrative so well.
This blog’s concept and execution are wonderful, dear. (Lord knows, I need help on my reading-aloud-skills.) I can’t wait to see what you add in the future!