The Book of Fairy Poetry

Rating:
Summary: Not a frilly, coffee-table book on fairies
Review: For fairy and folklore lovers everywhere, this book is a fun romp through fairy rhymes written by 32 authors, from Shakespeare to Prelutsky. The illustrations are rich and fanciful, but not frilly - some of the pictures are downright scary and dark, as befits the shadowy poetry. The book would work well as a read-aloud introduction to descriptive poetry in a classroom, but the language might be difficult for younger children to understand. For example, the "Scottish Folk Poem" begins "Gin ye ca' me imp or elf" and is written entirely in Brogue - with no translation offered. However, it would be a wonderful bedtime book for an older child who wouldn't be frightened by the images and could understand the similes and metaphors the poetry shines with. I do wish the author had picked a larger or darker font, as the text is often completely overshadowed by the illustrations and hard to read on the dappled backgrounds of some of the pages.



Rating:
Summary: Lush and mature - a must-own for Hague fans
Review: It is true that this book is not for small children, but that fact alone does not merit giving it a less-than-stellar review. The book's poetry is intriguing enough, but as the poems were selected by the illustrator, it is obvious that the main purpose of this book is the artwork. There, Hague delivers spectacularly. In his lushly detailed and painterly signature style, he creates a world so richly colorful, at times pleasant and at times dark, that the reader will be tempted to fall into that world and remain. I am no fantasy fan and have no particular interest in fairies, but this is an amazing book, not in the least because you get your money's worth: around 150 pages long, the book has more illustrations than text, an extremely rare case and one that betrays countless hours of work by its creator. Hague-fans and those who seek impressively-illustrated books must own this one.