Out go the urgent invitations to a fairy extravaganza: “Don’t be late!” The result is a flurry of worry about what to wear. Focus slowly turns to a poor fairy that seems defeated by this perennial dilemma but gets help from some encouraging ants. Beautifully attired yet quite late, the lovely fairy is about to be turned away when the prince gallantly comes to her side. The tale, reminiscent of “Cinderella,” is unfortunately light on plot and seems more a vehicle for active wordplay and lush scenes of this fairy world than any real story. Lippincott’s richly detailed, earthy-hued watercolor illustrations will impress fairy fans with whimsical depictions of helpful animals and a diverse gathering of fairy folk. Yolen’s rhyming text, lively and peppered with words that tickle the tongue—“They trotted and trembled, / They waltzed, waddled, winged, / They hopped and gavotted, / They floated and flingged”—is more appropriate for a read-aloud than as a challenge for new readers. Those satisfied by lavish settings won’t mind the ephemeral story. (Picture book. 5-8)
