An A to Z of Fairies by Caroline Stills

Ill. by Heath McKenzie. Little Hare, 2011.ISBN 9781921714504.
Do YOU know who's living at the bottom of your garden??? If you read this delightful book by Caroline Stills, then you might have a sneak peek, without having to wait for midnight on a still moonlit night. There might be brownies, elves, fairies, gnomes, leprechauns, pixies and nixies and a whole host of other little folk that you never knew existed, just ready to take you and your imagination away into a wonderful world of fantasy. And while you're meeting them all, if you look closely you will see three familiar fairy friends keeping you safe on each page. Can you find them? If not, there's help at the back of the book.
This is a companion book to An A to Z of Pirates and Heath McKenzie's artistry is just as enchanting, and, although perhaps not the conventional portrayal that you might expect, it is quirky and colourful and engaging in its detail. When Miss 5 comes to visit she is transported to fairyland - both in her bedroom and in her special fairy garden - and when she came to stay last week, this book went from first-read to favourite in five minutes. We read it over and over finding something new on every page, and then outside and over the bridge we went to see if there were any new residents hiding in or around the big gum tree that shades our fairy garden.
'Q is for the fairy queen, who, on the first of May, will whisk you off to fairyland, if you should glance her way.' But any day can be the first of May with this lovely book on your shelves.
Barbara Braxton