Customer Reviews

Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An old reviewer, with a sour look

Went out looking for his favorite book.

It was full of fairies, brownies, too.

But it couldn't be found, So what to do?

I spent years looking for the original, which commands $200-300. (It's worth it, too. I just don't have it.)

What do the readers do, when a book is out of print?

As they go through the years, and never see,

The Cannery Bear, or the house tomte,

Or the Littlest Mermaid again. Oh, gee!

I wouldn't be one - would you?

Well, now you don't have to be - it's back. That's all I need to tell the people who read it before, when it was called The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies.

For the rest of you, please understand that it's hard to describe this book objectively. Seeing it again is an incredibly joyous reunion. Garth Williams paints elves so that the sense of wonder is palpably displayed. The stories and poems are exciting, moving, pensive, and fun. The children in your life will love it. The grown-ups won't mind reading it to them. I do not know anybody who had this book as a child who isn't in love with it.

So the Elves and Fairies now live on my shelf.

And I read it all day, and I like myself.

I received this wonderful Elf and Fairy book from my parents when I was 5 and visiting relatives in Phadelphia for Christmas. My Dad read me the stories each night and I was enchanted with the illustrations and the sly humor (and messages) of the wee folk. (Jane Werner's selection of stories and poems was perfectly balanced.) My 1951 edition is also well worn and both covers missing but it is still a treasured childhood friend. I was showing it to a coworker (mentioning sadly that it was out of print) and he said - Are you sure? Try Amazon.com. and then came my Magical Moment - the title appeared and I was thrilled beyond words! My advice: Buy 1 to read, several to give to friends, and one to keep under glass (just in case). I only wish Garth Williams was still with us to see his luminous, enchanting artwork alive and dancing in the imaginations of new generations of children, and the young in heart. Thank you so much, Little Golden Book publishers for the reprinting and cudos to Amazon.com for the price discount. Happy Holidays!

My sister and I formed all our mental images of fairies and elves from this marvelously enchanting book. Our mother gave us the 1951 edition, which we treasured throughout our childhood. My sister has the original, and I was prepared for a lengthy search of used bookstores. But, lo and behold, Amazon had the reissued edition at a discount! Once again I'll be able to read about the magic scarves and mourn the Fairy Queen, whose body lies in the stream. Garth Williams drew pictures that emblazon themselves in the minds of children, who forever after remember the magic of the things unseen and unbelieved by most adults. The stories cultivate the imagination and expand the conscience. This is one book that no child should ever miss and one that no adult should ever forget.

Evidently Elves and Fairies is back out of print. (...) Five star average from 38 reviews? When do YOU think it's time to reprint this book?

Let's write or email the publishers and ask them to respond to the high demand for this treasured classic.

I owned this book as a child, and spent many hours reading and re-reading its wonderful stories and poetry, and poring over Garth Williams' beautiful illustrations. It traveled with me to my grandparents' home, 500 miles from my own, and I can recall asking my grandmother to read the beloved stories to me, although of course I knew and loved them well enough to recite many of their lines.

Alas, when I was twelve, I shared my cherished book with my next-door neighbor's young visiting granddaughter - who took it home with her and never returned it. I secretly grieved over my lost book, as at the ancient and self-conscious age of twelve, I thought I was too old for it, so I never told my parents or neighbor how distressed I was at its loss.

But as an adult, I always searched for a copy of _The Big Book of Elves and Fairies_, and was somewhat comforted to find James Stephens' _The Crock of Gold_ and William Allingham's "The Fairies" in other sources. Still, I remembered those lovely illustrations, the very essence of Faerie, and wished I could find my book once again.

If books are supposed to find their way back to you, I firmly believe they will - for about eight years ago, I found a copy of this wonderful book at a flea-market/antique show. I clasped it tightly and absolutely burbled to the dealer about how much it had meant to me and how much I had loved it. At that point, he could have charged me any amount - and I would have paid happily. However, he very kindly saw my elation and only asked $5.00 for this treasure - unlike some of those who are presently taking financial advantage of this wonderful book's scarcity and desirability and who are offering copies for sale at inflated prices. I honor this man's generosity and kindness - and cherish my book.

As a public children's librarian, I used this rediscovered treasure of a book both in the library and on storytelling visits to inner city schools. I shared these stories with children who'd never even seen a rose, much less a fairies' scarf. These children were enchanted by both the stories and the illustrations, and their frequently short attention spans, typical of children who've had little out-of-school contact with books, lengthened remarkably while they were lost in the stories. I told them of having loved this book when I was small, of losing it, and fortuitously finding it once again - and I think they took that story for another tale of magic. The children would beg me to show them all the pictures, not just those from the day's story selection - and I would comply as long as time permitted. This book truly worked magic.

I cannot understand why Golden Publishing has once again allowed this beautiful and much-loved book to go out of print, and I can only hope that it will once again reappear so that I can share this wonderful book with the younger members of my family. _The Big Book of Elves and Fairies_ (by whatever name) is outstanding in both content and format, and is dearly loved by so many. Its good magic is enduring, and that "magic" has enriched my life.

Garth Williams illustrations made this one of my favorite books from childhood and I was lucky enough to buy a copy when it went into reprint. But it isn't the only great fairytale books around either. (Mind you I wouldn't part with mine for any price but figure I will wait to buy more for all my young friends when next it goes into reprint.)

Other great fairytale books from the same era (yes, if you remember it from the first time around it was at least an era ago :-) are Ponsot & Segur's beautifully written & illustrated books which is STILL in print.

C.M.Barker's gorgeous fairy books are still in print.

Ida Outhwaite's beautifullly illustrated Elves & Fairies book reprints can still be found for a reasonable price (although I'm STILL waiting for all her other books to go back in print).

Now if you're only interested in baby boomer nostalgia(and nothing wrong with that), stop reading here but there are just as many NEW and wonderful illustrated books out now if you're looking for books that are not onerous to read (again and again) to the latest generation.

Lauren Mills is a wonderful fairy illustrator and one of her fairy books contain some of the poems from Watson's edition. I pretty much like all of her books.

Michael Hague's intricate Goodnight Fairies & Book of Fairies are favorites. Bateman's Merbaby is beautiful.

PJ Lynch's illustrations of Catkin are lovely and the story is
a treat too.

If you're not limited to fairies but also like fairy tales... Arlene Graston, Susan Jeffers and Kay Kaila all created some lovely Thumbelina editions. Zelinsky's renaissance Rapunzel is outstanding. Anything by Kinuko Y. Craft is guaranteed to be stunningly gorgeous. Jane Dyer illustrations usually are a pleasure to behold. Richard Doyle's Fairyland illustrations from well over a century ago remain appealing.

There are plenty of books to enjoy until Watson's Treasury is back in print again (along with ALL the other great books - old and new - that I await with pleasure). Enjoy!

I have wondered about this book quite a bit, especially since my daughter was born three years ago. I wasn't sure if I wished the book into my heart and made up the stories and pictures in my head. While searching for a different book, I had a flash about this one. I enlarged the image to get a closer look and there were the familiar faces of my childhood evenings! I can't wait to read about the cobbler's daughter and her shimmering magic shoes. I have always remembered the secret of the ring around the moon, even tonight, when I look into the sky 40-odd years later- - despite the fog! I have to go and leave my shoes on the doorstep now . . .good night!

I only bought one copy of the Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies when it was reprinted in 2000. What a mistake! My kids, now parents, both want copies for their children, and my nieces and nephews want copies too. Once children have had this book, no other one can replace it. Garth Williams' artwork is not to be missed, and the stories and poems stay with you for a lifetime. Every few months I check Amazon again, hoping another printing will be upcoming. This time I'll get a half dozen copies and it will probably still not be enough. If you have young children who enjoy elves, fairies, brownies, trolls, or mermaids, don't miss this book.

We had this book as children, and the old copy is officially mine. I have been looking everywhere for a copy to give my sister, and finding exorbitantly astronomicalprices as the rest have. In fact, I just last week wrote a pleading letter to Golden Books asking them if they'd consider reprinting the book, and here it is! This has made my year, and I'm sure it will make my sister's.

Like so many others that wrote, this was my favorite childhood book. I have a very tattered 1955 version, but needed to find it again to give to other children. I, too, searched high and low, and found a few in vintage shops, usually worn and torn; I suspect by pixies. The asking price was often in excess of $200, a price I would have paid if all the pages had been there.

I am ecstatic to see it re-released. I will read and re-read it and enjoy the world that I have known exists, since the first time I read about it in this enchanting and wistful book.

Thanks to Golden Books for the re-release. Next, I want them to release a series of re-prints of the art, in frameable plates. (Please!)

CQS