Minedition

This series of 4 books written by Simone Lindner, illustrated by Christa Unzner and translated by Kathryn Bishop belongs in every fairy aficionado's collection. Originally published in German, the books were licensed by Margarete Steiff, with rights arranged with minedition and published by Penguin Young Readers Group. All of that background is really to give you the link to minedition because at the very back of these books is an envelope that holds a letter written by each fairy to the child who reads the book. Supposedly you can meet your fairy online and play games with her. (We haven't been able to try this out yet as they're still working on the site.) Nevertheless, it's an intriguing concept.

I was foremost drawn to the wonderful illustrations, but found the stories teach respect and appreciation for nature, which I find important. The color scheme follows through for each element: water is blue, fire is red-orange, earth is green and air is lavender. Each fairy has a challenge which she solves using her element. For example, Aelin the water fairy must remove a beaver dam because the lake downstream is drying up and changing the habitat of the animals who live there. She chants, "Heart of a fairy brave and true. Show me now what I must do...." And with the help of her animal friends she removes the dam, water flows and she is rewarded with an appearance by Bereth the Fairy Queen who gives her a gold ring and sends her to the world of human children. She then becomes friend and protector of the child who is reading the story. My four-year-old was mystified. The ring in the story sparkles like a Rainbow Fish scale, only in the color of the fairy's element. And then the child opens the letter which not only tells about the natural element, but includes a glossary of the fairy language, Sindarin. I think we're prepping for Tolkien here. Boys are not left out because Amar, the Earth Fairy is a boy. And who is my favorite fairy? Legolas of course. Or is he an elf?