Children's Books discussion

The June 2016 topic is Fairies.

This thread now becomes our Master List and General Discussion for picture books about fairies. Please feel welcome to post reviews or recommendations here.

I hope ppl can find suggestions that are diverse. It seems to me that most classic fairies are blond blue-eyed girls...

Cheryl wrote: "I hope ppl can find suggestions that are diverse. It seems to me that most classic fairies are blond blue-eyed girls..."

I hope so too, but for me, it depends on what is available at the library, because I tend to only nominate books now that I either own or know I can easily get at the library.

A Fairy Went A-Marketing
The Woman Who Flummoxed the Fairies
Princess, Princess
Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child
Good Night, Fairies
Too Many Fairies: A Celtic Tale
Slop!: A Welsh Folktale
The Goblin Baby: Adapted from a Story by Andrew Lang
Gone With The Wand
Alice The Fairy
The Dreamtime Fairies
Grandfather Tang's Story (fox fairies)
Whuppity Stoorie
Child of Faerie, Child of Earth

This is a mix of books for younger and older children.

Fairy (David Bouchard)
The Wicked Fairy Wife: A French Canadian Folktale (Mary Alice Downie)
The Mud Fairy (Amy Young)
Toot & Puddle: Charming Opal (Holly Hobbie)
Fairies and Elves (Shannon Knudsen)
Where's the Fairy? (Keith Moseley)

Cheryl wrote: "I hope ppl can find suggestions that are diverse. It seems to me that most classic fairies are blond blue-eyed girls..."

For this reason, as well as because they are simply wonderful books, I highly recommend Bob Graham's
Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child
and
April and Esme: Tooth Fairies

Also, I know discussion of Disney retellings often brings censure as well as praise but I do want to point out that I was really charmed by their new-ish Tinker Bell animated films and that, while Tinker Bell certainly is the traditional blonde fairy, she has a group of diverse friends (fairies to represent Asian, Hispanic and African populations) and there are male fairies as well as female fairies. I have no idea if the Pixie Hollow books are any good but I felt they were worth a mention.

Kathryn wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "I hope ppl can find suggestions that are diverse. It seems to me that most classic fairies are blond blue-eyed girls..."

For this reason, as well as because they are simply wonderfu..."

I have only seen them as chapter books. Are there also picture books?

I haven't seen many Pixie Hollow picture books. There are two sets of chapter books for beginning readers (I'd say 2-4 grades). There is a set of Pixie Hollow ones, the first three are written by Gail Carson Levine - which is really well done. Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg and then there's a spinoff series written by other authors that I didn't enjoy as much. The second series is called the Never Girls and is about 4 girls who visit Never Land and go on little adventures with the fairies. My daughter LOVES them! In a Blink is the first one.
Both series are out of the scope of this particular group, although they do have a few illustrations (Levine's are in color and beautiful) but are interesting to note when discussing fairy books.

The Passport to Reading and Step into Reading series have several Pixie Hollow books for the younger set. Meet Tinker Bell (and the other fairies have their own books) also Tink's Treasure Hunt, The Fairy Berry Bake-Off and more. Some of these are beginning readers and some more advanced. I think they would be appropriate for our scope. I haven't read any so can't vouch for them personally but I do love the movies.

A few more to nominate:

The Dollhouse Fairy

The Very Fairy Princess

I've read and enjoyed both of the above

Cicely Mary Barker's name is so synonymous with fairies and children, in my book. I have to put her on our list.

Fairy Houses this is a picture book and I haven't read it -- so many beautiful books of fairy houses exist but they are beyond the scope of our club so far as I know. If you love fairy houses, as I do, you might enjoy this website:

*ETA: here's the website ;-)
http://www.themagiconions.com/fairy-g...

I don't have much to contribute, my little boy not being into fairies at all. He however LOVED The Tooth Fairy Wars so much he got me to buy it for him. Another title, for younger kids, but which I remember being more on the "gritty" side is the hilarious Alice The Fairy.

I'll throw in a link to the following lists, in case it helps finding titles:
Picture Books about Fairies
Picture Books About Mystical/Magical Creatures

The fairy listopia was not created by me, and the latter listopia was assembled from picture book club nominations.

Thank you for the nominations!

It is now time to VOTE!!!

Please vote by choosing your top five choices from the nominations in messages 4-11 and posting them in a comment below.

Votes will be accepted through May 22nd. Thank you!

Fairy
Fairies and Elves
Child of Faerie, Child of Earth
The Wicked Fairy Wife: A French Canadian Folktale
The Mud Fairy

Hoping we will get more votes!!! Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day to vote.

Kathryn wrote: "Hoping we will get more votes!!! Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day to vote."

I do too, but if not, I hope you still consider having the club discussion run. I do find it a bit strange that people vote on polls and then do not join in, do not suggest books or vote for them.

I'll read whatever is chosen that I can get. I suspect most ppl feel similarly - let the ppl who care the most do the choosing.

For me: It's just that Fairies is not a topic I'm particularly interested in. :shrug:

Cheryl wrote: "I'll read whatever is chosen that I can get. I suspect most ppl feel similarly - let the ppl who care the most do the choosing.

For me: It's just that Fairies is not a topic I'm particularly inter..."

I was more wondering about the people who actually voted for the topic. I mean, it did win with the most votes, but so far, I am the only one who has chosen possible books (and I did not even vote for fairies as I am kind of fairied out so to speak).

People are hoping to be led to books about fairies, because they're interested in, but unfamiliar with, what's available?

I've used that strategy for several of our previous themes.
(OT - what bothers me is when ppl vote and then don't participate in the discussion itself.)

Cheryl wrote: "People are hoping to be led to books about fairies, because they're interested in, but unfamiliar with, what's available?

I've used that strategy for several of our previous themes.
(OT - what bo..."

That bugs me as well, but then again, somtimes life happens.

Since I have a 6.5 year old girl, we'll probably read all of these. I am not voting because I'm too busy with teaching school and taking classes, so I don't have any time to read until about June 10ish. I'm excited to read whatever is picked, though!

Thabks for the feedback, Cheryl and Sam. Good to know why you're not casting a vote.
I do understand that sometimes there's a lack of interest (or so much interest one will read anything chosen!) in the chosen topic.

Of course, one is never obligated to nominate books or vote even if he/she voted for the topic (as Cheryl noted, sometimes one just wants to be led to good books on a topic of interest) though it does help me ensure readers get books available at their libraries if they vote.

Well, Gundula, I'm going to look at your votes and the nominations and see what I can get at my library and then I will post back with the books I have chosen later today or tomorrow. Thank you!

*ETA obviously I will include some/most of yours since you're the only one who voted. I just want to see what's available in my district and I'll have to count that as representative for the majority of US libraries, I guess.

Kathryn wrote: "Thabks for the feedback, Cheryl and Sam. Good to know why you're not casting a vote.
I do understand that sometimes there's a lack of interest (or so much interest one will read anything chosen!) ..."

I still kind of find it strange that even those who nominated books did not vote. But like you, I can understand that sometimes things happen, and I also know that it is easy to forget to vote on a topic (especially if things are busy, like they often are in the summer).

Kathryn wrote: "*ETA obviously I will include some/most of yours since you're the only one who voted. I just want to see what's available in my district and I'll have to count that as representative for the majori..."

Four of my choices are available at my local library, the one about the fairy wife I own, and I doubt it will be all that available in the USA. I chose it because it demonstrates how the concept of fairies varies and how originally, fairies were not just small diminutive entities (remember that the fairies in Sleeping Beauty were full grown women, basically witch like wise women).

Kathryn wrote: "Thabks for the feedback, Cheryl and Sam. Good to know why you're not casting a vote.
I do understand that sometimes there's a lack of interest (or so much interest one will read anything chosen!) ..."

I will fess up to having been staying on the sidelines lately. I got a nasty e-mail from Goodreads staff a few months ago, and it made me step back and try to "wean" myself from Goodreads. Problem is, I really like this group, and it's also hard to walk away from the 100+ hours probably spent making librarian and listopia edits here, only to move to another site.

So, I think I'm stuck here. Still reading a lot, obviously, and quite committed to the Caldecott book challenge, but my 7yo is gradually moving away from the picture books too.

Fjóla wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "Thabks for the feedback, Cheryl and Sam. Good to know why you're not casting a vote.
I do understand that sometimes there's a lack of interest (or so much interest one will read an..."

Wow, I cannot believe this happened to you, sigh. Did someone flag a review you posted? Or was it because of the fact that you do not suffer spamming, or manipulative authors with regard to Iistopia lists?

I am pretty worried that this might happen to me one day as well (my reviews are generally not nasty, but I have had a few strange comments about books that I have not liked, such as von Däniken's Chariot of the Gods). Thus now, when I post reviews, I also immediately import them to another site and also make sure that my GR Library is exported regularly and stored off line.

Fjóla wrote: "Problem is, I really like this group, and it's also hard to walk away from the 100+ hours probably spent making librarian and listopia edits here, only to move to another site.
So, I think I'm stuck here."

Good to hear from you Fjóla, though sorry to hear about the problems you've encountered with GR. I, too, have weaned myself from GR a great deal--partly because of all the changes that have taken place, partly because I just don't have time to be online much anymore. But, I have made many great friends here and found so many wonderful books and invested so much time I can't walk away entirely. I feel especially dedicated to this group and I'm so glad you will be staying around, too.

Here are the books we will read in June:

Good Night, Fairies
The Mud Fairy
Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child
Fairy
Child of Faerie, Child of Earth
The Tooth Fairy Wars: with audio recording *not sure why it's linking to the audio recording--it's not required

I look forward to our discussion in June!

Manybooks wrote: "Wow, I cannot believe this happened to you, sigh. Did someone flag a review you posted? Or was it because of the fact that you do not suffer spamming, or manipulative authors with regard to Iistopia lists? ..."

I suppose I have been somewhat vocal about my repugnance of fake reviews and rigging of listopia votes. Nowadays I mostly try to look the other way, although I find the practice just as grating as before.

I have observed a fair deal of weird stuff going on behind the scenes over the years, whole discussion threads getting pulled, comments deleted right before my eyes, even some of my own. I do understand that they are trying to run a business and please their customers, among whom we are clearly not, rather the product as we are creating content with every keystroke. And clearly, they want this content to reflect well on their patrons.

But I can't help it if I sometimes feel as there is someone looking over my shoulder every time I comment, or contribute to a group. Especially since I have had comments deleted instants after I typed them. I know, I may be a bit paranoid, but this is how I feel sometimes, even when participating in this group …

Ironically, GR staff has turned off my desire for writing reviews. I was probably writing over a 100 reviews a year when I started here, but now it's probably down to around 5. Like most of you probably, I received this e-mail from GR a few weeks ago, denoting me as a "top reviewer". And they said: "Out of all the reviews you've written, this is the review that got the most attention:" … and then linked to a review of mine that they themselves had DELETED during their all-time purge. I mean, that's kind of funny, right!?

Kathryn wrote: "Here are the books we will read in June: ..."

I will try to chime in if we come across any of these books. Although probably not until school is out late June.

Kathryn wrote: " ...
The Tooth Fairy Wars: with audio recording *not sure why it's linking to the audio recording--it's not required ..."

This is one of those weird GR kinks. For some reason the audio book ends up being the most shelved version …

Fjóla wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "Wow, I cannot believe this happened to you, sigh. Did someone flag a review you posted? Or was it because of the fact that you do not suffer spamming, or manipulative authors with..."

I've moved almost all my activity to Leafmarks, especially reviews. And I do very few book or list edits anymore.

Cheryl wrote: "Fjóla wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "Wow, I cannot believe this happened to you, sigh. Did someone flag a review you posted? Or was it because of the fact that you do not suffer spamming, or manipulativ..."

I post reviews on GR and then immediately export them and then import them to Leafmarks.

So sorry, Fjola!

And sorry for not voting. The end of the school year is super busy for me and I didn't have strong feelings about any of the titles...but there are only 6 more days of school for me so I will read and participate in June. Just have to make it through this week and next...

Jenny wrote: "So sorry, Fjola!

And sorry for not voting. The end of the school year is super busy for me and I didn't have strong feelings about any of the titles...but there are only 6 more days of school for ..."

No worries, Jenny!

Never feel obligated to vote. I just wondered at the lack of participation from even regular participants this time around and wanted to make sure everyone was happy and still interested :-)

Kathryn wrote: "Jenny wrote: "So sorry, Fjola!

And sorry for not voting. The end of the school year is super busy for me and I didn't have strong feelings about any of the titles...but there are only 6 more days ..."

I think it might be a good idea to consider the Caldecott discussions for months that are often busy for librarians and teachers, as many of us have these types of careers. I know that for me, April and December can be iffy (college exam times, end of term), and for school teachers like Jenny, I bet May and June are stressful.

I am fairly new here. I did vote on the poll for the fairy theme, so I do want to participate. I wasn't sure what fairy books to recommend, and didn't really mind which ones were chosen. I have put 3 of the books chosen on hold at my library and will join in on the discussion after I read them.

Katrina wrote: "I am fairly new here. I did vote on the poll for the fairy theme, so I do want to participate. I wasn't sure what fairy books to recommend, and didn't really mind which ones were chosen. I have put..."

No worries ...

Welcome, Katrina! Glad to have you aboard and I hope you will enjoy the books and discussion. Feel welcome to participate in the discussion come June or just read along with us :-)

Thanks, Gundula. I'll consider that.

Sorry, I missed the deadline for voting. I don't get to look at Goodreads every day, and so I missed the voting deadline. Anyway, I am happy with the choices for June's discussion.

(Of course, discussions remain open, so readers can chime in whenever they get a chance....)

Manybooks wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "Jenny wrote: "So sorry, Fjola!

And sorry for not voting. The end of the school year is super busy for me and I didn't have strong feelings about any of the titles...but there are o..."

It's a good idea to put Caldecott books in those slots. Or at least it would be good for me. May is pretty hectic. We are usually out the first week of June, so June is okay for me personally. But different schedules definitely exist. Either way, I try to get some/most of the books and participate that way. I just didn't know any fairy books off the top of my head nor have opinions about which books to read and didn't have/make time to research.

Thanks, Jenny. I will reassess the schedule toward the end of the year when I have a better idea of how things will be going with my boys and what/when I'm able to do relative to the PBC. I appreciate the helpful input from you and Gundula, though :-)

Fjóla wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "Wow, I cannot believe this happened to you, sigh. Did someone flag a review you posted? Or was it because of the fact that you do not suffer spamming, or manipulative authors with..."

I always wanted to tell staff how dictatorial their purges are or were but I was and remain afraid of getting caught in a purge. Now I know how East Germans felt until 1989 and why many East German authors had to tread very softly indeed.

I both liked and did not like The Wicked Fairy Wife: A French Canadian Folktale. It think it a very interesting story on a historical and folkloric level, but I certainly did not find the tale all that enjoyable to read. There is quite a lot of implied sexism present, and while some of this is likely traditional, I found that Josette is not only much too inactive but that there is also way too much blame for the in folklore often presented "female" vice of curiosity (that it is not she, but her son who saves her and the king from the wicked fairy wife is a bit grating, and while the fairy wife is of course the main villain, it is Josette's curiosity at having picked up that handkerchief which is clearly depicted as the impetus).

I also think that the illustrations, although detailed and well conceptualised, are really rather creepy; especially the wicked fairy wife is a depiction and vision of horror. This is still a very good story historically speaking, and for folkloristic purposes, but I probably would not necessarily share it with younger children (even if illustrated, I consider it more suitable for adults and for comparative, academic study and analysis).

The wicked fairy wife herself as a character is also not the diminutive entity we now (in 20th century North America) usually consider as representing the typical fairy being (she is fully grown, regally creepy, almost demon like). But we should remember that especially in many French and German tales, and actually in many continental European tales, fairies can and do appear as both small and diminutive beings and tall, regal female characters who can be both good and evil (think of the fairies in Sleeping Beauty tales, where the fairies represent wise women, and the snubbed thirteenth fairy utters that curse, which is then mitigated but cannot be undone by the one fairy woman who had not yet uttered her own blessing).

Just an OT update - Leafmarks is closing down. Now I have to figure out what to do with my catalog. I wish there was something kinda like a spreadsheet, kinda like an app, with flexibility and ease of data management, that could be just mine, and I wouldn't have to worry about oversight by a website owner.

Cheryl wrote: "Just an OT update - Leafmarks is closing down. Now I have to figure out what to do with my catalog. I wish there was something kinda like a spreadsheet, kinda like an app, with flexibility and ease..."

Library Thing is not great for interaction, but you might consider it (and while I do not enjoy the Book Likes set up, I know many others do). I was using both GR and Leafmarks, and am debating between going back to Library Thing (updating my books) or trying to like Book Likes (both were never as appealing as Leafmarks). I am glad in retrospect that I did not remove my books from Goodreads. Would you consider importing your library back to Goodreads? Considering what happened with Leafmarks, it probably would be good to have two catalogue and review sites.

Fairies and Elves

Although I with considerable pleasure appreciate the inclusion of a bibliography, as well as suggestions for further reading (including interesting websites, and even potential movies that focus on fairies and elves), and while I do find the information presented both engaging and informative (albeit more for older children, as there is quite a lot of text presented), there is one rather glaring factual error I have discovered (and perhaps there are even more). Being German, and having an advanced degree in German language and literature, I know for a fact that not ALL German fairies are called Bockmann (yes, the "Bockmann" does exist in German folklore, but he is just one fairy type entity of many). And with that fact in mind, I also have to wonder at the Danish Bergvolk, the Tlingit Kushtaka and the Slavic Wilis (I am sure they all are part of their respective folklores and traditions, but there are likely many different types of Danish, Tlingit and Slavic fairies and elves, with different names and behaviours, just like amongst English speaking peoples, there exist a multitude of different fairy and elf types). Still, this is a book to be recommended, just with the caveat that some of the featured information seems to be rather lacking and incomplete (especially within the section titled "Fairies Around the World").

This cute book is a sweet, but predictable rhyming story (at least for well-read adults). The illustrations are sweetly adorable, with all the little fairies and the fairy teacher being female. Little Betty may be clumsy when it comes to fairy tasks, but she is terrific at helping out the little animals.