Fairy Dreams [Hardcover]

Carol Mclean-Carr (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Carol McLean-Carr's intricately detailed illustrations create a glowing, jeweled fairyland that is both familiar and fantastic.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This unsuccessful hybrid of I Spy and computer game fantasy will likely leave readers confused and frustrated. While Isobel sleeps, butterfly-winged fairies with pointed ears steal 12 treasures from her room, and readers are asked to find them. An opening poem lists the items ("Her ball, her fan, her pot for tea,/ The egg she found beside a tree," etc.) but the order of the poem's list does not correspond to the order of the items to be found in subsequent pages. Instead, a four-line rhyming stanza on each spread provides the clue for the lost item. Unfortunately, the fuzzy, repeated details in McLean-Carr's computer-generated artwork hampers the search. Isobel's purple fan, for instance, is nearly identical to the many fan-shaped purple flowers hidden in the grass. Endpapers feature the 12 named fairies with their stolen treasures, but even these clues sometimes obscure the search: the fairy Pamble holds two shells on the endpaper, and pinpointing which shell the artist wants readers to find at the seaside panorama is perplexing. To further extend the game, the paper-over-board book ends with Isobel awakening and finding 12 gifts from the fairies so that readers with any patience left can begin a second search. Ages 5-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 2-3-Only the most ardent admirers of fairy worlds will find pleasure in McLean-Carr's seek-and-find book. Computer-designed graphics, using elements like digital airbrush and scanned textures for illustrations, borders, and spot art, exhibit a prefab rather than mystic look. The challenge of the opening poem is to find the dozen endpaper fairies with their corresponding treasures among the following luminous and busy vignettes of pixies, elves, mermaids, and the like. The double-page spreads present two-line poems bearing little relation to the item at hand. Certain treasures are too obvious, others too elusive. The final page offers more "gifts" to hunt when revisiting the pages. This browsing book is uneven in quality and not entertaining beyond its unique appearance.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439192579
• ISBN-13: 978-0439192576
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 8.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #770,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fairies for the New Millenium, October 30, 2000

By 

"cardon48" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fairy Dreams (Hardcover)

I love this book because I am a Graphic Design Student and fantasy art lover and saw a rave review in Design Graphics Issue 51 of this artist's book, Fairy Dreams. It is the first of it's kind ever produced as the artist apparently uses the computer as a painting tool. All the drawings, each object, character and background, are done in line on paper first and then these drawings are scanned into the computer to be painted in separate files. She then carefully composites the elements together at the end, which takes as much time as the painting itself apparently. When I saw it I couldn't get over the detail in the illustrations and the wonderful world she has created here for children and grown-ups alike. The transparent wings and delicate fairies, the humourous antics of some of the creatures, the brilliant colors and the textures are wild. On her website (bigblue.com.au) she tells readers just how it was done and it's clear many years as a traditional painter have made this artists work quite different than the usual computer art you see. It's incredible. When you get passed the amazing art you are caught up in a kind of "Where's Wally" hide and seek as you go from page to page looking for things the fairies have dropped as they fly off to Fairyland with the treasures they have "borrowed" from the little girl, Isobel's room. The rhyme at the bottom of each page gives you the clues for what you are looking for, which is sometimes quite difficult, especially for grown-ups, so the kids have to help. A kind of group activity for the family. Then when you get to the end of the book you see the twelve things the fairies have replaced in Isobel's room and you can go backwards to find a whole new set of new things in the pages. It's great! I have ordered this book for my little sister but my boyfriend also wants one too because of the digital art. Even my dad likes it! I highly recommend this book for those who are into fantasy art of today or just those who love children's fairytales. I look forward to her next book.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF!, January 10, 2001

By 

Soaring Heart - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fairy Dreams (Hardcover)

This book is extraordinarily beautiful. You don't need to read a word; I am talking breathtaking! WOW!

What I like best is the intricacy of it all. One can almost open the book and enter into the magical fairy world. The layout is absolutely perfect from cover to cover. You have got to see this to believe it! Every page is a visual feast for your eyes. You could spend a long time just absorbing the beauty without trying to find the hidden objects in the pictures. Another reviewer was correct about it being similiar to I-Spy books but so much better in my opinion!

There are not only fairies pictured but everything mystical: crystal balls, unicorns, gnomes, dragons, a sorceress, knights in full armor with swords, flying swan-shaped boats, jewels, mermaids, horses, and musical instruments all with lavish backgrounds and framed in edges. I repeat you have got to see this to believe it!

This book should proudly be displayed on a book holder placed on a shelf for you to admire. I have mine in the center of my fairy collection.

Thank you Carol! Your hard, time-consuming work really paid off! You are a true artist!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fairy world adventure!, October 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Fairy Dreams (Hardcover)

I love this book! I bought it for my daughter, but I want to have it for me to look at whenever I want, too! The illustrations are beautiful and magical. So many wonderful things to see on each page. The text is a bit like "I Spy" books. There are clues to look for things throughout the book. Anyone who likes the magical world of fairies will thoroughly enjoy having this in their book collection.