Seven months among mermaids and devils and sprites

[sovay]

My niece dropped a handful of maple keys into a small pool of tea-colored water dappled brightly with leaves in a hollow of the grass and said something about fairy skates. I have since learned that she has been building fairy houses out of twigs etc. with the nearer set of twins. Her personal mythos appears to be expanding.

Does anyone have recommendations for fairy books or media that might appeal to an almost eight-year-old who likes dragons, unicorns, selkies, and mermaids but does not just sit down and read her way through the complete bibliography of Katharine Briggs? My immediate instinct was to show her FairyTale: A True Story (1997), because I was reminded of a scene in it, but she may be slightly too young for it yet. She already has my copy of Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies of the Seasons (1988), but otherwise I got such fairies as I had in childhood almost entirely from books of folklore and Barrie's Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906), the first American edition with the Rackham illustrations inherited from my great-grandparents; my mother reminds me that I also read her childhood copy of Kingsley's The Water Babies (1863) because I missed all of the racism and satire and went straight for Mother Carey. We have things like Jane Yolen and Charles Mikolaycak's Tam Lin (1990) and Eric Quayle and Michael Foreman's The Little People's Pageant of Cornish Legends (1986) lying around the house and she probably would enjoy Alan Lee and Brian Froud's Faeries (1978) if I could get my copy out of storage. She has the tolerance for eerie images of a child who grew up annually watching The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), but I can't always tell what she will find narratively scary.

I have done little with fairy themes in my own work: a couple of recurring motifs. It would not have been shocking for changelings to be important to me, but I fastened onto other kinds of nonhumanness instead.

Comments

[thistleingrey]

"Lumberjanes and Wings of Fire," said the nearly 11yo across the room, who has not really read many good-quality fairy stories. "Oh! Our Castle by the Sea," which is apparently by Lucy Strange--I don't know it but it sounds potentially thematic; it's in Reason's classroom library this year.

ETA Also, Chris Colfer's Land of Stories and Roshani Choksi's Aru Shah, says the child who has very little experience in offering recs that pertain to the request parameters but insists that I pass those on as "almost related."

[troisoiseaux]

Does anyone have recommendations for fairy books or media that might appeal to an almost eight-year-old who likes dragons, unicorns, selkies, and mermaids but does not just sit down and read her way through the complete bibliography of Katharine Briggs?

I have fond memories of Emily Rodda's Fairy Realm series! I think I've mentioned the Emily Windsnap series by Liz Kessler before, for mermaids. Also, the Peter Pan spin-off Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine was one of my favorites growing up— it has fairies AND mermaids AND a dragon.

...this is what I can think of off the top of my head; I will probably remember more as soon as I hit post.

[troisoiseaux]

I did, in fact, remember that around your niece's age I devoured the Rainbow Magic series, which was one of those sprawling, pseudonymous Scholastic outputs. Similarly, the Tales from Pixie Hollow series. Not exactly in my top tier of recommendations - that's definitely the Gail Carson Levine one and the Fairy Realm series - but they're books for 8 year olds who like fairies.

[sholio]

Do you think it's fairies specifically, or might she enjoy any books about tiny people having adventures and building little houses, such as the Borrowers and Littles books and cartoons? I loved that kind of thing when I was her age (and, uh, still), although I mostly only had my own imagination for it since I didn't have access to the above books, but I remember we had a book of fairy tales that included Thumbelina, which I loved, and also the Danny Dunn book in which they were shrunk down to near-microscopic size. If you think your niece would like that sort of thing, I bet rachelmanija has more recs, since it's something she also likes.

(Also, I had to look up what maple keys are! I never heard that before.)

[selkie]

a) Oh, dear, oh, dear dear dear

b) What about The Borrowers? Clever and little-people-centric. I don't actually know much about fairies per se except for the Froud/Lee book. I'm realizing I must have gotten all my fairy/fair folk lore from my English governess, the way I got the rules for interacting with lung from my Chinese governess.

[sovay]

Do you think it's fairies specifically, or might she enjoy any books about tiny people having adventures and building little houses, such as the Borrowers and Littles books and cartoons?

I don't know! I have only heard her talking about fairies, but I have not tried reading her Danny Dunn and the Smallifying Machine just to see what happens. I shall interrogate the question further when I see her next and I appreciate you thinking to disambiguate!

(The Borrowers Afield and The Borrowers Afloat were my favorites of the Norton books. I have no memory of reading any of The Littles, but it seems statistically impossible I didn't encounter at least one.)

(Also, I had to look up what maple keys are! I never heard that before.)

I was about to guess it was a regionalism when spatch told me he'd never heard the term before, so I have no idea where I learned it. It's also used for the winged seeds of ash trees.

[sovay]

says the child who has very little experience in offering recs that pertain to the request parameters but insists that I pass those on as "almost related."

Tell her thank you all the same! I recognize Lumberjanes out of these titles and nothing else.

[sovay]

Also, the Peter Pan spin-off Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine was one of my favorites growing up— it has fairies AND mermaids AND a dragon.

You know, I have no idea if my niece has any experience of Peter Pan, but if it's not required knowledge, the trifecta sounds very promising.

...this is what I can think of off the top of my head; I will probably remember more as soon as I hit post.

That is the way of hitting post, like leaving a room.

[sovay]

Not exactly in my top tier of recommendations - that's definitely the Gail Carson Levine one and the Fairy Realm series - but they're books for 8 year olds who like fairies.

Good to know!

[sovay]

Oh, dear, oh, dear dear dear

I will keep you appraised of the mushroom content of our backyard, yes.

What about The Borrowers? Clever and little-people-centric.

Between you and sholio reminding me of the existence of these books, I am thinking it's worth a shot; it's not like we don't have at least two of them downstairs. Does anyone have a line on whether the 2010 Ghibli movie was any good?

I'm realizing I must have gotten all my fairy/fair folk lore from my English governess, the way I got the rules for interacting with lung from my Chinese governess.

You know that's not a sentence most people in this century can say!

[serafaery]

oohhhh, the Littles. There was something so special about those characters for me.

Is Maleficent too scary for her? I was a tender sheltered 8 year old so it would have been a bit terrifying, for me, at that age, but most kids these days seem emotionally tougher than I was. The story is poorly attended to but the general concepts behind the fae are cute and the visuals are spectacular.

"Faeries" would be worth digging out, methinks. I started with Brian Froud's Good Faeries/Bad Faeries, it's still my all-time favorite. Brian's art awakened something in me that has stayed with me all my life. <3

[troisoiseaux]

You know, I have no idea if my niece has any experience of Peter Pan, but if it's not required knowledge, the trifecta sounds very promising.

It's not required knowledge, I think - I'd say that 90% of the story is made from scratch, as it were? - although it's definitely built on the bones of Peter Pan (set in Neverland, Tinker Bell is a significant character, at one point Captain Hook shows up).

[pengwern]

Your niece sounds like a wonderful person \o/

The series I might rec was Catherine Valente's "Girl who ...." series which seems aimed at being gentle with its reader in a way that would have worked on me when I was smaller, but on the other hand it seems slightly much for an eight year old? Going off of myself, I'd probably peg it for age ten-ish. (The Fox's Tower?)

I also read Water Babies and Peter Pan at eight and having no cultural context for the former was. a trip. I have no idea what happened to this day _@

[troisoiseaux]

As you might have guessed, I was obsessed with fairies and this sort of - for lack of a better word - glittery fantasy books in early elementary school. This request definitely sleeper agent-unlocked some mostly-forgotten memories!

I should note that the Tales from Pixie Hollow tie into Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg.

Also, this one doesn't actually involve fairies or even magic beyond the existence of talking animals but has a fairy tale vibe that might appeal— Kate di Camillo's The Tale of Despereaux was my favorite as a kid.

[selkie]

Your godchild would also rec that book extremely strongly.

[troisoiseaux]

Do you think it's fairies specifically, or might she enjoy any books about tiny people having adventures and building little houses, such as the Borrowers and Littles books and cartoons?

Ann Martin's The Doll People and sequels also have similar vibes!

[sovay]

Ann Martin's The Doll People and sequels also have similar vibes!

Rumer Godden's The Dolls' House (1947) just flashed before my eyes.

[sovay]

This request definitely sleeper agent-unlocked some mostly-forgotten memories!

My niece likes glitter, so your memory trove is highly relevant!

Also, this one doesn't actually involve fairies or even magic beyond the existence of talking animals but has a fairy tale vibe that might appeal— Kate di Camillo's The Tale of Despereaux was my favorite as a kid.

I don't yet know her mileage on animal fiction—she has not, for example, discovered Redwall or even as far as I know Beatrix Potter. I will keep this title in mind, though!

[troisoiseaux]

I'm getting further and further away from the assignment with this, but she might like the original P.L. Travers Mary Poppins books.

If/when she does get into talking animals, Mira Bartok's The Wonderling came out about a decade and a half too late for me to be its target audience but I read it a few years ago and it was charming.

[sholio]

Ohhhh, speaking of Redwall, have you ever seen or heard of Mouse Guard? It's a comic, so it shouldn't be above her reading level since it's mostly dialogue and artwork, and the art is simply gorgeous. It is a bit violent (I would say the target audience is probably around 12-13, which was about the age when I introduced my nephew to it), so you would probably want to review it beforehand to make sure there's nothing overly disturbing, but it is lovely with a definite "magical tiny world" feeling - you can see what it looks like here: http://www.mouseguard.net/

[thistleingrey]

Will pass it along! They are at least all folktale-inspired fantasy at various removes, I think--the Wings of Fire series the least so, though the characters are dragons.

[sovay]

I'm getting further and further away from the assignment with this, but she might like the original P.L. Travers Mary Poppins books.

I was looking speculatively at our hardcover of Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943) earlier this evening. I'm trying to stay within the lines of what I know she likes right now, but I just want to keep giving her things.

[thistleingrey]

Reason liked The Mouse and the Motorcycle, as did I, circa 7-8y, on account of little things. I remember reading The Littles but nothing of substance, which isn't indicative.

[sovay]

Ohhhh, speaking of Redwall, have you ever seen or heard of Mouse Guard?

Never! Wow. It can always wait for her.

[sovay]

They are at least all folktale-inspired fantasy at various removes, I think--the Wings of Fire series the least so, though the characters are dragons.

She does like dragons.