Fairies Are So Hot Right Now

Now I've seen children and YA books with and about fairies for the last several years (and of course there's the centuries old popularity of fairy tales), but recently they really seem to have taken off.  All of my girls between the ages of 6 and 10 are into the Never Fairies and Rainbow Fairies series and some authors are trying to increase the range by writing and illustrating fairy books that are more gender neutral or geared towards boys.  So here's a post on fairy books, part Book List and part Review.

First for the younger kids there's the picture books by Bobbie Hinman. The most popular of these is the Fart Fairy. Which I'm not surprised appeals to kids, but personally I like to steer them away from bathroom humor.  There's also The Belly Button Fairy, The Knot Fairy, and The Sock Fairy.  Bobbie Hinman was an elementary school teacher, so she knows how to appeal to young kids.  All four stories are written in simple rhyme and have adorable and fun illustrations.  They're meant to appeal to boys and girls and children from a broad age range.  You can read them allowed to a 3 year old, with an emergent reader, or have a 7 or 8 year old read it to themselves.   If you buy them new they come with a read along CD, which can be great.

The Rainbow Fairies is a series about seven sister fairies who bring color to Fairyland, and the two human girls, Rachel and Kristy, who help the fairy sisters when they show up in our world.  These books fall into the easier reading range of chapter books.  The chapters are short, there are a fair amount of illustrations, and the stories not to long.  However, there aren't so many pictures that 3rd graders would scorn the books as "babyish".  I'd recommend this series for early Fluent readers (often 2nd and 3rd graders), it's the most popular series among my own students at the moment.  These books have been out for two or so years so the first part of the series should be available in libraries and used book stores.

The Never Fairies of Pixie Hollow is a Disney franchise about Tinkerbell and her pixie friends.  There's movies and books and games and the general Disney characteristic of trying to get you to buy more, but the actual book series Tales from Pixie Hollow is pretty good.  They have good messages about friendship, working together, gaining new skills, the growing and changing of  a person, and other wonderful things.  The fairies all have different skills and professions, Tinkerbell's a blacksmith, and the illustrations portray them as different races (though they all have the same general body shape).  I'd recommend the series for fluent readers (it's a bit harder then the Rainbow Fairies series) so about the 3rd grade level.  However, I know a lot of older girls who also enjoy this series so they're good for older kids for an easier read or those who might have a lower reading level but don't want to look "babyish". Also, since the first books in the series came out a couple years ago they're easy to find at used books shops or in the library!

I've already reviewed Justine Larbalestier's How to Ditch Your Fairy which is Young Adult and a light read with an interesting world, great female friendships, queer characters, and a good message about working for what you want.  However, I was a little disappointed that the protagonist, Charlie, didn't seem to learn that lesson as well as her friends did.

And of course there are the traditional fairy tales and their more modern retellings. I'm sure many people remember Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.  It was published in 1998 and has won a Trophy Newbery and had a movie remake starring Anne Hathaway.  Levine has also retold the story of Snow White in Fairest and written her own fairy tales in The Tale of Two Castles and The Two Princesses of Bamarre.  I've only read Ella Enchanted and Fairest, and I preferred Ella Enchanted, but all the books are YA in regards to reading level and appropriate story wise for younger children. 

Book Review - Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

Love That Dog is written as the poetry journal of elementary school student Jack.  It takes place over the course of a year as his class learns about poetry.  Every entry is a poem and most are free verse responses to poems or Jack's teacher Miss Strechberry. Other entries are Jack's poems inspired by ones they learned in class. Tying the majority of the entries together are poems about a dog, a blue car, and why Jack doesn't have a pet any more.

This book is a great introduction to poetry.  Some of the poems are short free verse responses, such as "I tried. Can't do it. Brain's empty."  Jack also writes poems in various styles, and excerpts from some of the poems mentioned in his class are included in the back of the book.

The content level of this book is appropriate for anyone in elementary school.  However, it does deal with the loss of a pet and some children might find this very upsetting.  The content also includes feelings of uncertainty and low confidence in regards to school work and deals with over coming these emotions.

 Creech's word choice is very simple, yet she portrays these rich emotions and experiences.  The reading level is about 2nd or 3rd grade. But with all the line breaks children should definitely be Fluent Readers if they're reading this book to themselves.  This book helps to develop the reading skills necessary for poetry.  Also we only read Jack's responses, but he references lessons and conversations with his teacher, and letters he receives from his idol Mr. Walter Dean Myers.  This helps children learn inference, which is the use of deductive reasoning to draw a conclusion.

Love That Dog has won the Christopher Award, the Mitten Award (Michigan), and Claudia Lewis Poetry Award. The story of Jack is continued in Hate That Cat, which I have not yet read. Sharon Creech is also famous for her YA novel Walk Two Moons.