The Kingfisher's Gift [Hardcover]

Susan Beckhorn (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Series: Sevens

Franny Morrow is an odd child. She talks quietly to herself, forgets to eat, and disappears for hours at a time. And there are the fairies: King Tamarack, Queen Iris, and Princess Meadowsweet. Fairies only Franny can see. Friends who are all she has left to remind her of her dead father. When Franny is sent to live with her eccentric grandmother, she takes the fairies with her. Together, they search the old house for a lost treasure: a Kingfisher's feather, which they are certain will give Meadowsweet the gift of flight. But instead they discover a greater magic, one that Franny never expected to find. The Kingfisher's Gift is a rare and beautiful story of growing up, of discovering the truth and wonder of imagination, the importance of believing, and the healing power of letting go.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7 After burning her hands while trying to prevent her mother from destroying her late father's manuscripts, Franny Morrow is sent to live with her grandmother in Massachusetts while her mother and maternal grandparents spend the summer in Europe. Grandmother Morrow, an enthusiastic gardener and naturalist, remains distant from her granddaughter, who finds companionship with Ida, her grandmother's maid. But the most important figures in Franny's life are King Tamarack, Queen Iris, and Princess Meadowsweet, the fairies who were the main characters in her father's stories and who have become real to her after his death. Franny is determined to help them find the kingfisher's gift, the magic feather that will enable Meadowsweet, a water sprite changeling, to fly like her parents. A crisis leads to the destruction of the feather, Franny's questioning the fairies' existence, and the revelation of secrets about Ida's and Grandmother Morrow's pasts, ultimately bringing Franny to accept her father's death and the presence of magic, both human and fairy, in life. This moving story is marred by the conflicting information about Franny's father's awareness of the fairies' existence. Details bring the child, the other characters, and the early 1900s setting to life, creating a well-plotted story that unfolds clearly from its opening to Franny's ultimate reconciliation with her mother. While not an essential purchase, the story will appeal to young readers looking to find magic in their own lives. -Beth L. Meister, Queens Borough Public Library, Flushing, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. Like her late father, Franny Morrow believes in fairies. Two fairies--or three, if you include the changeling water sprite child--travel with her when she goes to live with her grandmother while her mother takes a recuperative voyage. Franny hopes to help her fairy friends recover a long-lost treasure: the feather of a kingfisher that will enable Meadowsweet, the changeling, to fly. At the same time, she is drawn out of her fantasy world by real-life problems--the ambivalent attitude of her grandmother and a romance between the chauffeur and the maid. One somewhat jarring but delicately handled issue involves the stigma of illegitimacy in early-twentieth-century America. Franny finally comes to terms with her father's death and discovers that her fairies can enrich and inform her "real" life without overwhelming it. The cover illustration might cause readers to expect more fantasy than the book contains, and problems are wrapped up a bit too conveniently. But this mixture of fantasy and reality should have appeal to fans of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic The Secret Garden and Janet Taylor Lisle's Afternoon of the Elves (1989). Catherine Andronik
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Philomel (May 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399237127
• ISBN-13: 978-0399237126
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Award-winning author of half a dozen children's books, Susan Williams Beckhorn, grew up in a family where kids, animals, and the outdoors were cherished. She says, "There is nothing else I would rather do. It's a job I never plan to retire from. Children's books are the mother's milk of literature, they should nourish and inspire--and it wouldn't hurt if they protected kids from infections and allergies too! No one should ever think that writing for children is easy or trivial. Our children deserve the very best we can give them." Susan lives and writes in Rexville, NY.

Susan's books include:

In the Morning of the World, Six Woodland Why Stories, Down East Books 2000
The Kingfisher's Gift, Philomel 2002, (Junior Library Guild Selection, IRA Honor)
Sarey by Lantern Light, Down East Books 2003
Wind Rider, Laura Geringer Books, Harper Collins 2006, (Kliatt, Booklist Starred Reviews, Book Sense Pick, ALA's Amelia Bloomer List for literature which promotes equality for women)
Moose Eggs, or Why Moose have Flat Antlers, Down East Books 2007
Moose Power, Muskeg Saves the Day, Down East Books 2010

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Junior Library Guild and IRA Honor Book, June 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Kingfisher's Gift (Hardcover)

If you're the sort of person for whom fantasy is sometimes just as "real" as fantasy, you'll love this book. It reads like and old fashioned classic with modern-day insight. I loved the ending.