Even Fairies Fart

by Jennifer Stinson, Rebecca Ashdown (Illustrator)

Overview

Turns out nobody is perfect! Queens and kings; giants and trolls, and yes, even princesses all make mistakes! In this endearing and hilarious picture book by Jennifer Stinson, young readers can take a peek into the marvelous mess-ups and ferocious faux-pas of fairy-tale characters.

Rebecca Ashdown's delightful colors and funny expressions will leave readers snickering. Perfect for fans of The Paper Bag Princess and Not All Princesses Dress in Pink. Bottom line: When children realize that everybody else messes up, maybe they'll feel better about messing up, too. Perfect for bedtime and for the classroom.

Witches can be very whiny.
Kings and queens don't share.
Monsters sometimes want their mommies.
Mermaids HATE to comb their hair.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062436238
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/08/2017
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

Editorial Reviews

2017-06-05
Are fairy tales really as perfect as they seem?Apparently, no. Stinson aims to reassure readers that, despite "magic dust" and happy endings, fairy tale creatures make mistakes too: "Yes, fairies fart the same as us." In doing so, however, she makes an assumption that many readers will not share. Is farting an embarrassing indication of inadequacy, or is it just funny fodder for those with scatological senses of humor? Ultimately, these fairies don't successfully engage either side of this debate. As a fart-humor book, it contains too few farts and too much moralizing ("Witches can be very whiny"). By creating false equivalence among a wide range of behaviors (cheating, falling, pants-wetting, bragging, and getting scared, among others), the book dilutes its effectiveness as an it's-OK-to-be-imperfect text. The rhyme, at times grammatically awkward and trite, hobbles, with a loose regard for meter and scansion: "So if you fart or fuss or fail / or belch or beg or boast, / or think that you're the single kid who messes up the most, / now you can remind yourself / that simply can't be true." Ashdown's blend of pencil crayons, acrylic inks, and digital elements creates a colorful, textured world. Yet, the story's heavy reliance on its white characters, with a few brown faces added in supporting roles, makes this world a little less than welcoming. These fairies fall flat. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews