Child of Faerie; Child of Earth (Author-Jane Yolen, Illustrator-Jane Dyer) New York: Little Brown: 1997

Fairy Tale

Summary: A human child and fairy child meet. They visit each others land and try to get the other to stay in their land. Neither stayed in the others land but with gifts, visited each other until they were very old.

Critique:
This book was very wordy and a little confusing to read as an adult. This may be a little difficult for a child.

Summary (after) If you could visit any land, real or imagined, where would you go? Would you stay if asked? Why or why not?

I just Love the lyrical beautiful sweetness of this book. Perfect for fall bedtime. ( )

A lifelong friendship between a human and a faerie: they envied each other's worlds but had enough self-awareness to know they didn't want to abandon their own for the other. Full page illustrations filled with seasonal colors amplified the warmth of the story.

Recommended as a story to show kids that people from different worlds can come together, share their culture, and build lasting friendships/ relationships without having to sacrifice their homes or who they are in the process.

4.5 stars ( )

This book was beautifully written. The author was very precise with her words, and they flowed nicely. There was a defined speed for the piece to be read at, which made it whimsical.

The illustrations were a nice edition. They were vibrant, but not too busy.

I would recommend this book to 4th graders and up. Some of the word choices were too advanced for lower grades. The fluid language swept me away to the point where I had to read the book three times before I could understand what was going on with each of the characters, but when I did, I found it very charming.

Basically, a girl runs into a fairy in the woods. He takes her to his realm, and they spend the night exploring it. The next day, she takes him to her village and they farm together. Their worlds are very different, and, in the end, they must return to their own. The good news is that they get to visit each other every once in a while.

I absolutely loved the illustration of them together when they are old and grey. It was a nice wrap up for the story.
( )

A girl and a faerie boy discover each other on Hallow's Eve and become fast friends. He takes her to his faerie hall below and tries to convince her to stay; she then takes him to spend a day in the world of men, on a farm, and presses him to stay instead. Yet both miss their true homes, and at last come to an agreement that they will remain friends and visit each other faithfully, but live in the worlds that they each call home.

A simple picture book tale that is reminiscent of Town Mouse, Country Mouse - with a light touch of the supernatural - this is yet another story that Yolen weaves with her lyrical language. The poem is as beautiful as the story of two friends torn between different worlds. The accompanying illustrations are detailed and have an ethereal quality suited to the subject matter. The elven world is filled with wistful blues and silvers, while the man's world is soaked in warm earth colors.

When I was young, I used to dream of finding some secret passage to a faerie world, and this book played upon those old buried desires. Yet it has a comical counterpoint in the practical, when the girl makes the faerie spend a day in our world, milking cows and cleaning sheds. The story is a balance between play and work, night and day, magic and reality ... a contrast of opposites that come together as friends in the end. ( )