A Midsummer Night's Fairy Tale

( 1 )

Want to read this on your NOOK? Request as NOOK Book from the publisher

Thank you for requesting this book as a NOOK book from the publisher.

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

The Faeries of Spring Cottage Wendy Froud
Hardcover $15.75

More About This Book

Overview
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
Meet the Author
Read an Excerpt

Advertising

Overview

In a forest called the Old Oak Wood, early on a rosy summer's morn, a young faery named Sneezle wakes in his nest to the clear music of pipes and the warm smell of the sun. At dusk tonight, the Midsummer Eve festivities will begin — a time of potent magic in the faery realm. But just what will take place remains a mystery, for every year young Sneezle has fallen asleep. Something wonderful will happen, he knows — or perhaps something dreadful and strange, for the faeries have two sides to their natures.

Something wonderful, something strange...In this enchanting collaboration between renowned doll maker Wendy Froud and award-winning writer Terri Windling, Sneezle's Old Oak Wood comes vividly alive with the magical denizens of the faery kingdom: a fatherly old troll dispensing wisdom from deep in his burrow; faery godmothers washing fragile wings; Titania and Oberon, the great lovers who rule over this faery kingdom; and a host of piskies, pookas, enchanted beasts, and darker spirits. Filled with the mystery and wonder of the very best faery tales, this entrancing story sends our unlikely little hero, Sneezle, into the tangled heart of the forest in an effort to thwart a powerful plot that threatens the Old Oak Wood.

Can the faery kingdom be saved? Can an insignificant little creature like Sneezle succeed in a hero's quest? With dazzling charm and a magical touch that will appeal to readers of all ages, A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale shows us that a good heart can triumph over evil and that humble truths are more powerful than the most elegant artifice.

A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale is the result of a magical collaboration between the doll and puppet maker Wendy Froud and the award-winning author Terri Windling. The faery world they unveil here so vividly features images of Ms. Froud's handmade figures woven into an enchanting faery tale for all ages written by Ms. Windling.

Editorial Reviews

Edward Bryant

[Windling's] a sound scholar and an astute observer of the popular arena...Serendipitously she can also create her own fiction, though doing that all too seldom. When it does appear...we're reminded that Windling can indeed practice what she preaches...

A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale is sufficiently gentle in its surface, but wrapped artfully around a tough enough core, the book works for readers (or listeners if you're reading the book aloud) of all ages.

And top think, all this with only one offstage unicorn and no dragons, oh my.
—Locus

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780684855592
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: 10/28/1999
Pages: 64
Sales rank: 1,193,652
Product dimensions: 9.39 (w) x 9.31 (h) x 0.55 (d)

Meet the Author

Wendy Froud became a doll maker at the age of five, and has gone on to make dolls, puppets, and sculpture for such films as The Empire Strikes Back — she is credited as the fabricator of its beloved character Yoda — as well as Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, "The Muppet Show." and The Muppet Movie. Her dolls and figures are highly sought after by private collectors around the world. Froud grew up in Detroit and now resides in Devon, England, on Dartmoor, with her artist husband, Brian, and their son, Toby.

Read an Excerpt

From A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale

This is a faery story. It doesn't begin "once upon a time" or "in a land far, far away"...it begins here in the world we know, in a forest called Old Oak Wood.

Old Oak Wood is a dark and tangled forest tucked into moorland hills, and in that wood dwells one of the faery courts of the British Isles. Now, many folk in our modern world will tell you faeries don't really exist — but this doesn't stop the faeries from going about their daily business, any more than their disbelief in humans would cause us to disappear.

Faeries are contrary creatures, but there is one way they are pleased to oblige us: to humans determined not to believe in them, they remain quite invisible. Yet anyone who has ever suspected that Nature herself has a spirit and soul can learn to see her children, the faeries, flickering through shadows of field and wood. As the Irish poet Yeats once said: "You can not lift your hand without influencing and being influenced by hordes of them...."

At dawn of a certain morning in June, the faery court of Old Oak Wood was not particularly concerned with the belief or disbelief of human folk. Those of the court who sleep by night (and, certainly, not all faeries do) woke to the sound of a pipe calling the sun up through the trees. They stretched their limbs, unfurled their wings, and wiped the dream-dust from their eyes. A pale light filtered through the leaves of ancient oak, young rowan, and thorn. The Piper of the Dawn played faery music so high and pure and clear that it could break a human heart, and even the old oaks shivered.

A small faery named Sneezle woke in his feather-lined nest in an oak tree's roots. He wiped the dew from his cheeks and crept out from the leaves and moss. His eyes were bright with anticipation, for this was a faery holiday. Midsummer Night began at dusk — a time of potent magic in the calendar of the faery realm. Mistletoe would be harvested for use in spells throughout the year, and water would be drawn from the sacred spring beneath a hazel tree. Human maids would put flowers beneath their pillows to dream of lovers to come, and farmers would drive their cattle through bonfire smoke for protection from the faeries. At dusk the Faery Queen's Gathering began, and after that...well, he wasn't quite sure. Sneezle was just two hundred years old, a mere child in faery years — and in two centuries he'd never managed to stay awake to join the Gathering.

Something wonderful would happen tonight — or perhaps it was something dreadful and strange, for the faeries have two sides to their natures: the fierce and the gentle, the dark and the bright. Whatever it was that happened on Midsummer Night, this time he would play his part. Sneezle yawned and stretched, picturing himself at the center of bright pageantry — the cupbearer for the Faery Queen, or leading a stately procession through the woods. Surely there was an important role for a handsome young faery like Sneezle. He smoothed his ears and groomed his pelt with his tongue and the back of his hand, like a cat. He brushed his tail and buttoned his coat while the Piper played her morning song, then made his way through the ivy and undergrowth toward the heart of the forest.

Time in the faery realm follows different rules than time in our human world. Although it was summer in Old Oak Wood, spring flowers carpeted the hills and autumn berries hung red and ripe — for plants blooming out of season are always a sign that the faeries are near. Sneezle passed through bracken, under briars, over stones slippery with moss, and found himself in a glade where brittle leaves gusted in a cold wind. A troop of goblins scurried past, carrying bowls of sweet autumn fruit. Wind-sylphs ran at their heels, chilling the summer air where they stepped.

"What ho!" cried Sneezle, his mouth watering, for there's nothing so delicious as goblin fruit. Humans who dare taste it soon waste away, content with nothing less. "Stop! Slow down! I'll help carry that!" He reached for a bowl, and his hand was slapped.

"Hee'cha!" shrieked the goblins in Goblinese, a language of squeaks and giggles and shrieks. Then they disappeared through the bracken, followed by gusts of cold autumn wind. Behind them, warmth returned to the glade; the ferns unfurled and the flowers bloomed, turning their faces to the new morning sun. Two goblin berries lay on the ground, one red as blood and one white as milk. Sneezle put them in his pouch and followed the trail trampled by goblin feet.

As the trail looped crazily through the trees, Sneezle lost sight of the goblins and sylphs, but the brown autumn leaves they left behind gave him a clear path to follow. He breathed in smells of rich, damp earth, tart wild mint, sweet honeysuckle. He heard birdsong, and water chattering, and the distant pipe. Old Oak Wood was quiet and still if you looked at it through human eyes — but Sneezle looked through faery eyes and saw quite a different picture. The shadows were filled with woodland folk — faeries and foxes, brownies and badgers, piskies and porcupines, derricks and deer, all busy now with preparations for the Gathering to come. Tiny green piskies harvested cobwebs, red-eared trolls gathered mandrake roots, and luminous flower faeries wove garlands of ivy and briar roses. Brownies with clothes of bark and moss painted white spots onto red mushrooms. Excited rabbits, always a nuisance, rolled in the leaves and scampered underfoot. Delicate sylphs flew overhead, pouring mist from silver buckets.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5

( 1 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(1)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines

Tell the world what you think of this product.

Add Recommendations

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.

Anonymous

Posted February 12, 2010

No text was provided for this review.

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble

A Midsummer Night's Fairy Tale

Overview

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Overview

Editorial Reviews

Edward Bryant

Product Details

Meet the Author

Read an Excerpt

Customer Reviews

Rating Distribution

5 Star

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

What to exclude from your review:

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

Reminder:

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!