From Publishers Weekly
This collection of 17 poems, which lacks the overall pizzazz of Evans and Rogers's previous Weird Pet Poems, features the title fairies, trolls and goblins as well as the less familiar spriggans, banshees and pointed people. Lavish endpapers introduce a dreamy-eyed girl lying in a forest of ferns and jack-in-the-pulpits populated with elfin beings. In Monica Shannon's wry, forthright "How to Tell Goblins from Elves," the girl spies a cheerful goblin baby hanging in a basket and sucking his "pink and podgy foot/ (As human babies do),/ And then they suck the other one,/ Until they're sucking two"; for the sauntering pace of Muriel E. Windram's "The Footstep Fairies," the heroine's flowered tennis shoes attract a troupe of camouflaged sprites who "tug with might and main,/ Till all the little blades of grass/ Are standing straight again." Despite such humor and detail in the verses and artwork, however, both the poems and paintings vary in quality. The imagery can be overly coy--as when a troll is described as "so cute and wise"--and the flood of teensy, itty-bitty descriptors gets repetitive but specific and lively language in the poems also inspires the artist's best work. Ages 4-up. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-A collection of 16 poems about imaginary creatures. A few, like the one by Rachel Field, shine, but many are unmemorable, relying on cliche (from "The Fairy Ring": "-a place beyond all time") or plodding rhythms and uninspired diction (from "Evidence": "On our fence, a clump of doe's hair?"). Rogers's illustrations provide much of the book's charm, humor, and playfulness. Skillfully done in watercolors with touches of acrylic, pastel, and colored pencil, they use earth tones, deep blues, sparkling starlight, and graceful lines to depict intriguing scenes with details children will love. Larger collections may want to add this title. Otherwise, stick with Lauren Mills's The Book of Little Folk (Dial, 1997) or Jack Prelutsky's Monday's Troll (Greenwillow, 1996).
Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
