THE SECRET LIFE OF FAIRIES

This undistinguished debut contains a jumbled assortment of general information about the wee folk (all of whom are evidently European), a bland original fairy tale, and an incomplete recipe for fairy cakes with cream icing (i.e., no instructions for the icing), all matched to competently drawn but conventional views of green-clad beings with pointy ears and dragonfly wings. Although browsers may be momentarily captured by the visit to a fairy mound, or by the spread on “Fairy Fashions,” the author’s refusal to follow up on provocative statements, e.g., “Fairies do not have belly buttons,” or to provide sources will stifle inquiry rather than spark it. Stick with more systematic field guides, such as Carol Rose’s Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns and Goblins (1998, not reviewed); collections of lore, such as Rose Williams’s The Book of Fairies (1997); or, for an atmospheric visit to fairy realms, try Suza Scalora’s The Fairies (see review, below). (Picture book. 7-9)