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Too Many Fairies: A Celtic Tale

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Too Many Fairies: A Celtic Tale

Hardcover

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Hardcover
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Overview

There was once an old woman who hated chores. “Work! Work! Work! How I hate it! Hate it! Hate it!” One day some fairies show up. They…clankety-clankety-clankety—clean all the dishes. Swishety-swishety-swishety—sweep the house. Flumpety-flumpety-flumpety—shake out the bedclothes. Clickety-clickety-clickety—work on all the knitting. But then there is nothing left to do. So, they tear everything apart and start again! Clankety-clankety-clankety, swishety-swishety-swishety…The fairies are driving the old woman crazy! How will she get them to leave? Lively watercolor illustrations add to this retelling by master storyteller Margaret Read MacDonald. An author’s note is also included.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761456049
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	01/05/2012
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD470L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Margaret Read MacDonald received her Ph.D. in folklore from Indiana University and is an author, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s librarian. Each year she travels to exotic places on the hunt for new tales—Kota Kinabalu, Alor Setar, Shanghai, Palembang, and Buenos Aires, to name just a few. Among her recent books are The Singing Top: Tales from Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei; Five Minute Tales: More Stories to Read or Tell When Time Is Short; and Earth Care: World Folktales to Talk About; and Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur! A Palestinian Folktale, an American Library Association Notable Book. Dr. MacDonald lives in Kirkland, Washington. To learn more about her work, visit www.margaretreadmacdonald.com.

Susan Mitchell received her degree in drawing and painting from Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. Soon after graduating, she visited Plymouth, England, where a fortune-teller told her she would “go across the water,” have one son, and illustrate children’s books. She soon moved to Montreal, Quebec, with her new Canadian husband and began her career in children’s books and had a son. To learn more about the illustrator visit: www.susan-mitchell.com.

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Editorial Reviews

A fairy tale in which the fairies get fired, MacDonald's take on a Scottish-Irish folktale starts with an old woman who hates housework. A voice from outside calls ("Your luck has come! Open the door! / Let me in and you'll work no more!"), and soon several fairies have taken over her house, doing all the chores to which the old woman has grown accustomed. When she yells "Fairies STOP!" because they're so "rackety," they proceed to take apart all they have done, so that they can start all over again. The sound effects—from "clankety clankety" to "swishety swishety"—make this a fun read-aloud, and Mitchell's full-of-green pictures are engaging domestic scenes with a little fairy dust thrown in. The tale ends with the old woman luring the sprites outside and incapacitating household objects so that they can't help the fairies back in. As the knitting needles say, "We're stuck in the yarn; we cannot get out!" The last page features the happy old woman alone with her chores.

Booklist

K-Gr 3—An old woman grumbles, "Work! Work! Work! How I hate it! Hate it! Hate it!" Her complaining soon brings four fairies to her door to perform her chores—washing dishes, sweeping, making the bed, and knitting. But all of the help still can't stop her from complaining about all the noise the fairies are making: "clankety, clankety," "swishety, swishety," "lumpety, flumpety," and "clickety clickety." "These fairies are driving me crazy!" she laments. But when she tells them to stop, they begin to reverse all of their chores, tearing everything apart. A visit to the village wise one teaches the complaining old woman a lesson about being content with her own situation. This Scottish folktale is subtle but effective in its message of humility. The illustrations are folksy and warm with amusing detail. Notable are the old woman's pointed shoes, the fairies' woodland-creature apparel, and the animation of ordinary household items. A fun read-aloud.—C. J. Connor, Campbell County Public Library, Cold Spring, KY

School Library Journal

The magic in this Celtic cognate to "It Could Always Be Worse," summoned by an old woman's complaints about her housework, comes in the shape of crazy-cleaning fairies, who, as soon as they have washed the dishes, swept the floor, made the bed and done the knitting, undo all their work so they can start again. The village wise woman gives the old woman the right advice to both get rid of the fairies and stop her complaints. Using strong construction and repetition in all the right places, the simple text is so artfully composed that it is ready-made for retelling, from the old woman's cantankerous "Work! Work! Work! How I hate it! Hate it! Hate it!" to the onomatopoeic clankety, swishety, flumpety and clickety noises made by the fairies gone berserk. Mitchell's watercolors reflect the text too sweetly, without enough visual clues to make the cute gossamer-winged, roly-poly mischief-makers convincing nuisances, and even the crotchety old woman doesn't look very crotchety. Taken alone, master storyteller MacDonald's work shines. (Picture book/folklore. 4-6)

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