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The Real Fairy Folk
Excerpt from The Real Fairy Folk
Uth climbed to her favourite perch in the old willow tree, and settled Belinda in a crotch beside her.
Now, she said, drawing a long breath, we will be cool and comfy.
Certainly if there was a cool spot to be found on this hot August morning it was in the shade of this big willow.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Uth climbed to her favourite perch in the old willow tree, and settled Belinda in a crotch beside her.
Now, she said, drawing a long breath, we will be cool and comfy.
Certainly if there was a cool spot to be found on this hot August morning it was in the shade of this big willow.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
246 pages, Hardcover
Published February 22, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 12, 2022
Originally published in 1912, this charming book describes an afternoon in which a little girl named Ruth is suddenly given the ability to understand the speech of the little creatures around her. She then eagerly converses with frogs, toads, spiders, and many different kinds of insects (with the occasional comment from a mole, an earthworm, etc). I love the Smidgen Press ebook version of this book. For a book of this age, it’s often possible to get an affordable ebook version, but they’re usually bare bones, poorly formatted, and often filled with typos. This version is attractively formatted, has few if any typos, and includes illustrations—not just the original book illustrations, but also many true-to-life drawings of the creatures featured in the book. This was very helpful, because without a picture I would have had no idea what some of them looked like! The added illustrations were sort of “vintage” looking, enough that they did not look out of place in the book.
As to the story itself, I liked it better than I thought I would. I wondered if it would just be super cheesy—and of course it is silly in a way, but I quite enjoyed it rather than cringing. A few parts made me laugh, such as when Mrs. Mosquito proudly explains that she learned her Latin scientific name from a meeting of scientists who were talking about her. She listened very carefully to everything they said—while she was busily biting every scientist in the room! I also learned quite a few things I didn’t know, so I enjoyed that aspect as well.
I bet the Charlotte Mason style homeschoolers would really like this as a science book (I’m not a Charlotte Mason type myself, but I don’t hesitate to sponge off their recommended reading lists). I’m not sure that every kid would enjoy it—I bet I would have enjoyed it as a kid, but my ten-year-old son, for instance, would probably hate it. He dislikes fantasy books and likes his scientific information cut and dried, no fanciful stories with talking animals, thank you very much!! But kids (perhaps especially girls) who are very imaginative and who like fairy tales will love it. I had my (imaginative) twelve-year-old daughter read this for homeschool, and she said she really liked it. (She gives it 4 and 1/2 stars.) She particularly liked the chapters about bees and butterflies. She thought that some of the bugs were pretty rude, but she kind of enjoyed their arguments, such as the part where the butterflies are all arguing about the proper way to make a cocoon.
So, for 8-12 year olds who like a whimsical, fantastical story, this book is both enjoyable and educational. I’m excited to see a vintage book so lovingly and beautifully republished.
Thanks to Smidgen Press for sending me a free ebook copy to review.
As to the story itself, I liked it better than I thought I would. I wondered if it would just be super cheesy—and of course it is silly in a way, but I quite enjoyed it rather than cringing. A few parts made me laugh, such as when Mrs. Mosquito proudly explains that she learned her Latin scientific name from a meeting of scientists who were talking about her. She listened very carefully to everything they said—while she was busily biting every scientist in the room! I also learned quite a few things I didn’t know, so I enjoyed that aspect as well.
I bet the Charlotte Mason style homeschoolers would really like this as a science book (I’m not a Charlotte Mason type myself, but I don’t hesitate to sponge off their recommended reading lists). I’m not sure that every kid would enjoy it—I bet I would have enjoyed it as a kid, but my ten-year-old son, for instance, would probably hate it. He dislikes fantasy books and likes his scientific information cut and dried, no fanciful stories with talking animals, thank you very much!! But kids (perhaps especially girls) who are very imaginative and who like fairy tales will love it. I had my (imaginative) twelve-year-old daughter read this for homeschool, and she said she really liked it. (She gives it 4 and 1/2 stars.) She particularly liked the chapters about bees and butterflies. She thought that some of the bugs were pretty rude, but she kind of enjoyed their arguments, such as the part where the butterflies are all arguing about the proper way to make a cocoon.
So, for 8-12 year olds who like a whimsical, fantastical story, this book is both enjoyable and educational. I’m excited to see a vintage book so lovingly and beautifully republished.
Thanks to Smidgen Press for sending me a free ebook copy to review.
March 18, 2022
I received my edition from Smidgen Press and it is STUNNING. I love the new illustrations so much more than the one I had previously seen and the ebook flowed so well. This precious book is one that I would have loved to have had when my kids were younger and we were in love getting on our hands and knees and digging through the dirt to look at earthworms and running around the yard chasing butterflies. I love the whimsy of this story and debating banter that the creatures carry on as they each explain their importance in creation. Such a great book. Thank you for breathing life back into it for us, Smidgen Press!
April 4, 2022
Ruth is a young girl who desperately wishes that she could hear the talk of the creatures around her. She confesses to her dolly that sometimes she feels like she lives in a Fairyland, only she can’t hear what’s going on. And then something magical happens - suddenly, Ruth CAN hear the creatures around her and they tell her so many things! She learns about toads, frogs, beetles, spiders, bees, grasshoppers, and more! Her world has expanded exponentially and she’s a most enraptured student.
This was a really cute story, with Ruth being a sweet, earnest girl who is curious about the world around her. I see this book as an excellent resource for an educational read aloud, as well as being a fun resource for science and nature study. There is a lot of information packed into the chapters, so each chapter could have several lessons in it.
I read this book aloud to my children and they enjoyed it, although they did comment that many of the creatures were pretty sassy and had attitude. However, Ruth’s sweet temperament was a nice counterbalance to that and it was fascinating to learn more about some of the littlest creatures in our world.
I highly recommend this sweet little book, especially if you yourself or your children are interested in learning more about nature.
I’d like to sincerely thank Smidgen Press for gifting me a free e-copy of the book.
This was a really cute story, with Ruth being a sweet, earnest girl who is curious about the world around her. I see this book as an excellent resource for an educational read aloud, as well as being a fun resource for science and nature study. There is a lot of information packed into the chapters, so each chapter could have several lessons in it.
I read this book aloud to my children and they enjoyed it, although they did comment that many of the creatures were pretty sassy and had attitude. However, Ruth’s sweet temperament was a nice counterbalance to that and it was fascinating to learn more about some of the littlest creatures in our world.
I highly recommend this sweet little book, especially if you yourself or your children are interested in learning more about nature.
I’d like to sincerely thank Smidgen Press for gifting me a free e-copy of the book.
February 9, 2021
Seems like travelling to a magic world, how the animals see the world where we live in, or how they see themselves, if we understand what they talking about. But, unfortunately we can't. From this, I know that the author tried to give us some good opinions about other creatures beside human.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews