A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale - Hardcover

Terri Windling; Froud, Wendy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684855593 ISBN 13: 9780684855592

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1999

Synopsis

In a forest called the Old Oak Wood, early on a rosy summer's morn, a young faery named Sneezle wakes in his nest to the clear music of pipes and the warm smell of the sun. At dusk tonight, the Midsummer Eve festivities will begin -- a time of potent magic in the faery realm. But just what will take place remains a mystery, for every year young Sneezle has fallen asleep. Something wonderful will happen, he knows -- or perhaps something dreadful and strange, for the faeries have two sides to their natures.
Something wonderful, something strange...In this enchanting collaboration between renowned doll maker Wendy Froud and award-winning writer Terri Windling, Sneezle's Old Oak Wood comes vividly alive with the magical denizens of the faery kingdom: a fatherly old troll dispensing wisdom from deep in his burrow; faery godmothers washing fragile wings; Titania and Oberon, the great lovers who rule over this faery kingdom; and a host of piskies, pookas, enchanted beasts, and darker spirits. Filled with the mystery and wonder of the very best faery tales, this entrancing story sends our unlikely little hero, Sneezle, into the tangled heart of the forest in an effort to thwart a powerful plot that threatens the Old Oak Wood.
Can the faery kingdom be saved? Can an insignificant little creature like Sneezle succeed in a hero's quest? With dazzling charm and a magical touch that will appeal to readers of all ages, A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale shows us that a good heart can triumph over evil and that humble truths are more powerful than the most elegant artifice.
A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale is the result of a magical collaboration between the doll and puppet maker Wendy Froud and the award-winning author Terri Windling. The faery world they unveil here so vividly features images of Ms. Froud's handmade figures woven into an enchanting faery tale for all ages written by Ms. Windling.

About this title

Review:

Not once upon a time, but right now, in a British forest called Old Oak Wood, faeries frolic, invisible to those humans who choose not to believe in them. In A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale, doll maker Wendy Froud (best known for creating Yoda and other creatures for Muppet master Jim Henson) and award-winning fantasy author Terri Windling collaborate to tell the story of one of these elusive fellows, a young tree-root faery named Sneezle. Each page of this delightful book is graced with an elaborately staged photo of Froud's doll creations in their natural habitats, paired with Windling's story of Sneezle's unlikely heroism. Sneezle and his diaphanous friends are adorable enough to charm a kid, and his adventures are interesting enough to hold the attention of an adult reading the book aloud to a favorite youngster.

Sneezle's adventures begin when he sets out to fetch the Midsummer crown for King Oberon. Meanwhile, the Faery Queen Titania is found asleep, victim of a powerful magic spell. The hopes of the faery kingdom ride on Sneezle's little shoulders! While on his journey, Sneezle meets up with fascinating forest characters, discovers the identity of the wicked sorceress who has enchanted the queen, and learns about courage and loyalty. He also figures out that being "the same old Sneezle" is a fine thing to be. Kids and adults will enjoy this richly illustrated, romantic fantasy. (Ages 8 and older) --Therese Littleton

About the Author:

Terri Windling has been a fiction editor for more than thirty years and has won many awards for her work. She has published more than forty anthologies (often in partnership with Ellen Datlow), as well as her own novels, children’s books, and nonfiction on fantasy, folklore, and mythic arts. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Bram Stoker Award, and the SFWA Solstice Award for “outstanding contributions to the speculative fiction field as writer, editor, artist, educator, and mentor.” Her adult novel The Wood Wife won the Mythopoeic Award for Novel of the Year, her collection The Armless Maiden was shortlisted for the James Tiptree Jr. Award, and the YA anthology Teeth (co-edited with Ellen Datlow) was short-listed for the Shirley Jackson Award. A former New Yorker, Terri lives with her husband and daughter in a small country village in Devon, England.

“If there is a single person at the nexus of fantasy literature, it is Terri Windling—as writer, as painter, as editor, as muse.” —Jane Yolen

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0684855593
• ISBN 13: 9780684855592
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64