THE WISHING OF BIDDY MALONE

A nifty tale with a Gaelic lilt to its language and structure, resolved with a sweet message. Biddy Malone loves to sing and to dance, but she’s not very good at either, and that makes her angry, “her temper being a fine fierce thing.” So one twilight she stomps out after her brothers’ teasing and finds a faerie village, where a loveling “with skin like an acorn and hair as soft as midnight” tells her that wishes come in threes. She wants to sing, to dance, to master her temper. When the faerie village vanishes, Biddy finds she’s been gone two months, and she can dance and sing no better than before. But the loveling’s words stay with her, and she works hard at both, as well as at the loving heart he said she has. Eventually, she’s the best dancer and singer around, but as for love, she longs only for the beautiful faerie boy. The illustrations, attractive enough, do not quite mesh with the text, the boy not exactly beautiful and missing his “silver rings,” but the warm colors and faerie spirit ring true. (Picture book. 5-8)