Child of Faerie, Child of Earth [Hardcover]

Josepha Sherman (Author), Rick Farley (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 11 and up

Percinet, half-human son of a queen of Faerie, falls in love with a mortal, the daughter of a medieval count, and leaves his realm of magic to defend her against her cruel stepmother, a secret sorceress.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10-- This is a lovely fairy tale expanded to novel length without losing the glitter and mystery of the genre. Percinet, the quixotic and handsome prince of Faerie, finds himself hopelessly in love with a human female. Graciosa is the young woman, born with an unrecognized talent for magic buried in her heritage but hopelessly mired in a dispirited existence as the chatelaine of her widowed father's estate. A new stepmother who is as evil and cruel as she is ugly complicates her life further. Eglantine, or Lady Grognon (Toad) as she is more often referred to, is as anxious to get rid of Graciosa as the prince is to win her love. Percinet's home in Faerie is the legendary land of light, music, and joy, but Graciosa is too bound by her sense of duty and fear of things magical to accept refuge there. Grognon's cruel attempts to eliminate the girl finally force her to examine her options and choose. This fast-paced fantasy effectively includes many fairy tale elements--dark castles and faerie magic, evil synonymous with ugliness, the fair maiden, the handsome prince, and more. What it may lack in original characterization is compensated for in quicksilver action, lively descriptions and dialogue, and an enchanting romance. --Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Graciosa was chatelaine of her father's castle until he married the hideous Lady Eglantine for her fortune. Jealous of Graciosa's beauty, Eglantine tries to kill her, aided by a minor demon. But Graciosa has caught the eye of Percivet, half-human prince of the faerie lands of Queen Rezaila; he rescues her and takes her to Faerie, where Rezaila tries to arouse Graciosa's latent magical talent. Graciosa resists and returns to earth, where Eglantine sets her impossible tasks like sorting tangled skeins. When, with Percivet's help, she succeeds, Eglantine traps her in a tomb while the demon seizes Percivet. Tapping her talent, Graciosa returns to Faerie; she and Rezaila rescue Percivet, setting the demon free to carry Eglantine's soul to hell. Graciosa returns with Percivet to Faerie. There's little new or engaging in this wicked stepmother story cross-fertilized by Rumpelstiltskin and Tam Lin: Eglantine gets her comeuppance; Percivet's pride goeth before a fall; and Graciosa comes out sadder but wiser. Sigh. Okay for collections with an active interest in fantasy and romance. (Fiction. 10+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover: 159 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Co (April 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802781128
• ISBN-13: 978-0802781123
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,296,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Sweet and Simple, November 2, 2001

By 

M. Smitherman (Montana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Child of Faerie, Child of Earth (Hardcover)

For years I'd seen this book in the shelves of the public library, but I'd never given it more than a glance. But just recently I was browsing the shelves, after having found what I was looking for, and chanced upon Child of Faerie, Child of Earth. I read the inside cover for probably the 5th time in the past 3 years, thinking maybe I ought to read it, and see if it was any good.

So I checked it out, brought it home, and began to read... and I couldn't put it down! The story is so simple, and yet so enthralling all at once. I immediately liked Percinet, the green-eyed elf with a sweet sense of humor and such persistence. Me being the addictive reader that I am, finished the book in a day. I loved it not as one loves a flowering orchid awash in dew, but as one sees a white daisy in a field, and loves it for its simplicity and purity. If ever I am in a bad mood, I shall pick up this book and read my worries away.

I recommend it to any avid reader, any hopeless romantic, any believer of Faeries, any lover of adventures, any magically talented soul, anyone who enjoys a story, pure and lovely. Any reader, any age, will love this book. I did. Even as I was in the midst of A Clockwork Orange, Julius Caesar, and so many dark and serious and sorrowful books, Child of Faerie, Child of Earth was my beam of hopeful light, my life-saving beacon. It is a book like no other.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Simplicity, June 19, 2000

By 

Rachel Rossano (CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Child of Faerie, Child of Earth (Hardcover)

This book is wonderful. The storyline of this book is simple, but this attribute only improves the beauty. It is pure and sweet. I found myself reading this book over and over. When my family moved to a new place and I could not find this book, I searched until I found a copy I could buy. I would recomend this book to anyone. It is a timeless classic.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy to survive with, February 28, 2002

By 

Anna Sheehan "author" (Drain, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Child of Faerie, Child of Earth (Hardcover)

A book which draws you in and holds you there. You don't just understand, you ARE the characters. The style is the in the ancient folktale style, which is fitting for the characterization. I was fourteen when I first read this book, and since then it has become my "teddy bear" book, brought with me everywere. It gives you a way out of your mundane reality.