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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
Beautiful pop-ups, text wasn't my favorite, July 16, 2008
Length:: 1:37 Mins
This book lives up to the standard that Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda have set with first rate pop-up engineering. Every page has a central pop-up that is beautiful and interesting. Each page is further embellished with a minimum of two corner pull-outs that are also pop-ups in themselves with history as to the folklore of fairies. From this perspective, it is top notch.
The area where I was a little disappointed was in the history of the fairies themselves. It starts out interesting enough explaining that fairies appear in the legends of every continent. But it tends to focus on the darker aspects of the folklore. I've never researched the history of fairies, but I prefer to think of them as benevolent beings. Most of the stories focused on their pranks and the misfortune they can bring. The final corner pullout talked about the English girls who supposedly played with fairies and set up a camera to catch them on film. It was a well publicized case because it was later exposed as a hoax. They had used cuts out from an old children's catalog. The girls admitted their prank but claimed that one photograph was authentic.
I loved the artwork and pop-ups, but the actual text made me feel creepy sometimes, and in the end, sort of sad. While I will show it to my children, I will use my own words to describe the fairy world. If you're really into pop-up books, this is worth adding to your collection, but if your true interest is the lighter side of fairies, I prefer the pop-up book How to Find Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker.
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Encyclopedia Mythologica: Fairies and Magical Creatures Pop-Up 0763631728
Matthew Reinhart
Candlewick
Encyclopedia Mythologica: Fairies and Magical Creatures Pop-Up
Books
Beautiful pop-ups, text wasn't my favorite
See video on Amazon.com This book lives up to the standard that Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda have set with first rate pop-up engineering. Every page has a central pop-up that is beautiful and interesting. Each page is further embellished with a minimum of two corner pull-outs that are also pop-ups in themselves with history as to the folklore of fairies. From this perspective, it is top notch.
The area where I was a little disappointed was in the history of the fairies themselves. It starts out interesting enough explaining that fairies appear in the legends of every continent. But it tends to focus on the darker aspects of the folklore. I've never researched the history of fairies, but I prefer to think of them as benevolent beings. Most of the stories focused on their pranks and the misfortune they can bring. The final corner pullout talked about the English girls who supposedly played with fairies and set up a camera to catch them on film. It was a well publicized case because it was later exposed as a hoax. They had used cuts out from an old children's catalog. The girls admitted their prank but claimed that one photograph was authentic.
I loved the artwork and pop-ups, but the actual text made me feel creepy sometimes, and in the end, sort of sad. While I will show it to my children, I will use my own words to describe the fairy world. If you're really into pop-up books, this is worth adding to your collection, but if your true interest is the lighter side of fairies, I prefer the pop-up book How to Find Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker.
Tenna Merchent "Author-He's Not Autistic, But..."
July 16, 2008
- Overall:
5
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Location: Noblesville, IN USA
New Reviewer Rank: 260
Classic Reviewer Rank: 2,849
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