Customer Reviews

A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful book for all lovers of folklore, fairy tales, and the magical forests of the British Isles. I bought it to read to my children, but I loved Terri Windling's poetic tale also and Wendy Froud's dolls are stunningly beautiful, so I would recommend this as a perfect gift for adults too. I have also purchased Terri Windling's brand new faery story for older children, The Raven Queen, and recommend it to all faery lovers. It's another poetic and magical faery story from the talented Miss Windling and the only thing that would have made it better is cover art by Wendy Froud. Long live the faeries!

It is Midsummer's Eve and all the faeries are coming to Old Oak Wood to celebrate the summer solstice. Since this is a time of powerful magic, something dreadful is as likely to occur as well as something wonderful. The fairies have to be on guard at this time. However, unbeknownst to anyone, a traitor to King Oberon and Queen Titania has emerged.

Only one individual needing a lot of luck can possibly save the realm. However, Sneezle is a youngster, being only two centuries old. He has never made it through the festivities without falling asleep. Yet he is the last hope to stop a treacherous act from succeeding.

MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S FAERY TALE is an entertaining story filled with fabulous illustrations throughout the fantasy. The story line is typical of the genre with a nice but kind of pitiable individual turning into an epic hero. However, Wendy Froud and Terri Windling make it work because Sneezle has a charm that will delight children and adults. Fans of faeries and otherworldly beings will enjoy this rich tapestry as the pictures are filled with elaborate detail, enhancing a fun plot.

It's not very surprising that Wendy Froud happens to be the wife of the renowned fantasy artist, Brian Froud himself, who is quite famous for his very unique fairy and faerie creations. And Terri Windling's writing isn't too shabby here, either. So with all Mrs. Froud's very life-like arrangement of faery figures so elaborately designed and dressed and then carefully positioned within an equally believable woodland setting, Ms. Windling's fairy tale begins with the busy preparation for a great ceremonious faery festival: The Midsummer Night - as derived from one of William Shakespeare's famed plays. The hero of this tale is a very humble little Sneezle, who happens to be a sleepy-eyed wingless faery of the tree roots. He wants so much to be part of the much bristling about, yet he keeps getting underfoot or into a big mess. So the poor innocent little creature is quite crestfallen, yet he does not yet know that he would soon be playing a very crucial role in thrawting the crafty plans of an evil faery about to overtake the whole faery realm! Yet...young Sneezle just does NOT has much courage or any skill to fight at all - a very unusual kind of a fantasy protagonist. Beautifully written with a rustically poetic style and marvelously illustrated by all those well-made dolls that would truly delight any fantasy fans and serious fancier of fairies and faeries!

A collaboration between famous doll-maker Wendy Froud and award-winning author/editor Terri Windling - could you ever ask for a better team? In this beautifully created book the two present the story of the faery Sneezle - small, helpless and over-looked, who is desparate to make a difference on this particular Midsummer Night, the night where all manner of faery creatures join to together in celebrations unknown to Sneezle - he's always sleeped through them! He is determined though that tonight will be different, and immediately goes out in search of something to do to help, though often his attempts cause more harm than good. Finally though he is given a task by Lord Oberon himself, a task so important however that Sneezle doubts his chances to successfully achieve it. With Queen Titania under a strange spell of sleep, Oberon orders Sneezle to fetch her crown from the Heart of the Wood - but a beautiful-yet-dangerous enchantress is out to fetch the crown also, to become Oberon's new queen.

If there is something wrong with this book, it is perhaps that the narrative is too complicated. I get the distinct impression that this book will most likely reach the bookshelves of more adults than children, but nevertheless the story often branches out into several tangents that do not quite flow. Though the story starts with Sneezle's quest to find something useful to do and a few encounters with various faery folk, he soon comes across the sleeping Titania. He then goes in search of Oberon, who sends him off to fetch the crown. Then there is Twig, the young faery who (and this I really disliked) wanted time to perfect her appearance before going on a life-or-death quest to fetch the crown. Then there's the matter of the sword and Titania's missing and transformed handmaidens, and of Rianna's several appearances and her adjenda that conflicts with Sneezle's own. Perhaps the intricate, many stranded plot was what Windling was going for, but it doesn't quite come across as the simple `faery tale' that is in the title of the book. I'm not saying that Windling should have made a simple story line that only children would have found enjoyable, nor that I particulary disliked it - just that a few creases in the structure could have been ironed out to make it a more fluid storytelling effort, rather than a rushed and jumbled story. On the other hand, the story is charming, not too sugary (like many other `fairy' tales) and has a good underlining message to just be yourself. This is just a little quibble of mine - nitpicking in the face of an otherwise perfect and beautiful book.

Wendy Froud's exquistie dolls are the real reason for purchasing this book. Whether they are the tiny sylph-like faerys or the larger, more solid, graceful humanoid dolls, the distorted and somewhat macabre gnomes and imps or the merticulously crafted unicorns, each one is unquie, beautiful and inspiring. Each one has its own personality, its own individuality and a beautiful costume. Yet although these dolls are positioned within beautifully created sets of woodland scenery and lighted softly and mysteriously, I would not re-hire the photographer they used as he sometimes shoots the dolls from some rather awkward angles. The most obvious example is that of the faery Rianna in the picture where she is leaning forward, her hand extended. The doll herself is utterly perfect, but the actual photograph is off-centre, so that she is positioned well on the left side of the page and her fingers are almost lost in the binding of the book. I assume this was done to keep all of her wings within the picture, but all that needed to be down was photograph her at a different angle. As it is, the photograph almost appears to be part of a much bigger photo that was roughly chopped to fit into the book. Another example is that of Oberon and Titania on the unicorns at the conclusions of the book - Oberon's black unicorn is not only difficult to see, but again nearly lost in the binding, such is its positioning on the far left side of the page.

Yet again, this is another small flaw and never takes away from the beauty of the dolls and the charm of Windling's intricate story. Make sure you get your hands on the next edition - The Winter's Child, and cross your fingers for a third installment in Sneezle's adventures.

Sneezle, you ask? What exactly is a Sneezle? Well, Sneezle is our little root faery hero, that's who! This is a wonderful book with a very good lesson that teaches us that everyone in life has been put here for a reason. Sometimes it may seem that certain people in life have better luck, are more beautiful, are thinner, have a better voice, etc but this book shows us that there is something special in everyone, even when we least expect it. Sneezle shows us that the pure of heart will always prevail over the forces of evil.

The artwork in this book is also PHENOMINAL (please forgive me if my spelling is incorrect.) Every time I look at the pictures, I find something new. The creatures, the landscapes, the settings are all GLORIOUS! Although this is a "children's" book, I highly recommend it for both the young and old at heart.

Loved It! One of the most beautifully photographed books i've ever seen, all of my friends say the same thing about it. If you like faires, you love this book, absolutly wonderful.

I love story books, in part for their often lovely illustrations...but this book took it to a new level. Ms. Froud's dolls are fantastic, and make you believe in faeries (if you don't already). Amazing. Even if the story were mediocre, this book would be worth buying to examine the faeries. It's a double treat because the story is just as good, and more substantial and lengthy than your standard modern story book. If you love faeries, fantasy, dolls, inspirational stories about little "ordinary" heroes, or good picture books, you have to add this to your collection.

The book refers all to faeries, the story is good but what I was interested on was the art. Wendy Froud created the dolls for the story and since my interest is doll making, this was a great book full of details. She has another book named "The Winter Child" in which she uses the same dolls but there is different story line. If you are interested in books with great pictures, this is the one or if you enjoy reading good stories to children you will greatly enjoy it. Wendy Froud is the wife of Bryan Froud the great illustrator of "Good Faeries, Bad Faeries" and "The Faeries' Oracle".

If you love fairies and a cutestory to go along with it, Ihighly reccommend this charming book! I received itfor Christmas and it was awelcomed surprise!

Wendy Froud's stunningly beautiful dolls and Terri Windling's evocative writing skills are perfectly blended in this charming tale. This is a must have for anyone with an interest in fairies, dolls and/or fairy tales! On a scale of 1-10, this is an 11!