This is a wonderful fairy story and collectible, and it's not just for kids. Ms. Barker's artwork is best displayed on the cover illustration, so don't mistake this for the type of art in Barker fairy calendars. The illustrations inside the book are line drawings. While they perfectly fit the story and the old-fashioned feel of this fairy tale, they are not very detailed or in color. My daughter and I both love fairies and we liked the excitement and suspense of this book, even though it is very short. Rose has to find another home, might soon run out of fairy dust and be unable to make magic, runs into elves in the bramble who like to cause mischief, etc. The book was very exciting to read. What I particularly like about it is that it is not written in overly simple language. I like reading books with language that is like that in older storybooks and fairy tale books, and my daughter likes to be challenged. She wouldn't even read the I Can Read series books because she said they weren't real stories. I agree. Even though they are probably good for teaching reading, they mostly contain a list of simple sentences that sort of relate to each other, but sometimes don't because they don't flow very well. This book flows well and is written as it should be with words like "unexpectedly, lovliest, sympathetically, chaos, and undergrowth" that fit the story and probably won't give many young readers problems because it's obvious what's going on from the rest of the story. This is a good way for kids to learn things. In addition to being a fairy lover, I appreciate that this is well written and not purposely geared to five and six-year-old readers, because I think that tends to make some books less good than they could be. Other fairy books and series we are also enjoying: Mimosa and the River of Wisdom (The Fairy Chronicles) Fairy Realm #10: The Rainbow Wand (Fairy Realm)
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