Fairies have always fascinated me, ever since I was a little kid. So of course I’d want to read about them. There are some really terrific books about the Wee Folk, so if you’re interested, read on....
Probably my favorite fairy book is Herbie Brennan’s Faerie Wars, followed by The Purple Emperor, Ruler of the Realm, and Faerie Lord. These sci-fi type books are about Henry Atherton, a boy who’s just found out his parents are divorcing and is having a hard time about it. He starts working for Mr. Fogarty, an old man in the neighborhood, and one day he discovers a fairy named Pyrgus in the shed, which starts many adventures for the teenager. These books are terrific, and although Faerie Wars starts a little slow, it picks up pretty fast. The characters are great and the plotline has plenty of adventurous escapes, as well as personal struggles and funny moments. I’ve read the series too many times to count, and I can n ever decide which book I like best!
Another series I’ve been enjoying is the Chronicles of Faerie by O. R. Melling. They’re more of the Celtic, old-fashioned fairy kind, which I also love. The first book is titled The Hunter’s Moon, and follows the story of a young girl named Gwen, who goes to visit her friend Findabhair in Ireland. Almost as soon as they get there, however, Findabhair is stolen by the King of the Faeries and taken away to live with him in the Faerie Court. Gwen is thrown into an adventure she didn’t count on, trying to save her dear friend from living forever with the Faeries. Next in the series come The Summer King, The Light-Bearer’s Daughter, and The Book of Dreams. So far I have only read the first two, and although I liked The Hunter’s Moon, The Summer King was even better. These books have all the elements that make a great novel; magic, mystery, adventure, and even a bit of romance.
Recently I also read The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones, which I found to be a little disappointing but still readable. Sixteen-year-old Anita Palmer is on a boating trip with her boyfriend, Evan, when everything goes wrong and the boat crashes. Anita wakes up in the hospital to find that Evan is in a coma, but after finding some mysterious gifts she is transported into the land of Faerie, where she discovers that she’s actually the missing daughter of King Oberon and Queen Titania. Although this novel looks appealing and it does have somewhat of a good storyline, I was a bit irritated by the forced-seeming, old-fashioned way the faeries talked and the strange way the humans talked. However, if you like fantasies/fairy tales, this book does have its good points. Also read The Lost Queen and The Sorcerer King, books two and three in the series.
FairyTale: A True Story is about the only good movie about fairies, in my opinion. I’ve had the VHS tape for a long time and used to love it when I was little. I still like it. It’s an in-depth story of the Case of the Cotingley Fairies, when two girls photographed fairies with their father’s camera.
And last but certainly not least, are the Old Oak Wood books by Wendy Froud and Terri Windling. In book one—A Midsummer Night’s Faery Tale—everyone in the wood is getting ready for Midsummer’s Eve, which is a time of great celebration. Sneezlewort Rootmuster Rowanberry Boggs VII, a small tree root faery, is feeling useless because he doesn’t think he’s good for anything. But Sneezle might be more useful than he ever imagined, when Queen Titania’s crown needs fetching.... Though this is technically a picture book, it is not the kind suitable only for five-year-olds. It has a good, fairly long story as well as exquisite illustrations of the dolls made by Wendy Froud. Along with Terri Windling’s excellent writing and storyline, it results in a wonderful book that I would recommend to all ages. The other books in the series are titled The Winter Child and The Faeries of Spring Cottage.Other Young Adult Fairy Books:
Wicked Lovely, by Melissa Marr
Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie, by Holly Black
The Blue Girl, by Charles de Lint
The Fairy Rebel, by Lynne Reid Banks
The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm, by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
The Turning, by Gillian Chan
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Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale
Ironside: A Modern Faery’s Tale, by Holly Black
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Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Letters
Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book, by Brian Froud & Terry Jones
Fairy Dust, by Jane Denitz Smith
Beck and the Great Berry Battle, by Laura Driscoll & Judith H. Clarke
The Faery Flag: Stories and Poems of Fantasy and the Supernatural, by Jane Yolen
The Fairy School Series by Gail Herman:
Tooth Fairy Travels
Fairy Cloud Parade
Mixed-Up Magic
The Best Book Ever!
Look Out, Earth-Below!
Little Star
When Wishes Come True
Hide and Peep
A Fairy Merry Christmas
The Icicle Forest
The Fairy Realm Series by Emily Rodda:
The Charm Bracelet
The Flower Fairies
The Third Wish
The Last Fairy-Apple Tree
The Magic Key
The Unicorn
The Star Cloak
The Water Sprites
The Peskie Spell
The Rainbow Wand
Pixie Tricks by Tracey West:
Sprite’s Secret
The Greedy Gremlin
The Pet-Store Sprite
Halloween Goblin
The Angry Elf
The Sporty Sprite
Double Trouble Dwarfs
The Wicked Wizard
The Fairy Lair Books by Anne C. Lemieux:
A Special Place
A Magic Place
A Hidden Place
