Book Review Faerie Tale

 

“Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Do you believe in the magic of faeries? Author Suz Anne Wipperling's newest book “Faerie Tale," addresses that question with her love of fantasy as she delves into the world of faeries. The book is a story poem of a little Irish girl, Annie Mc Glinty, who narrates the story. She feels misunderstood and wishes to be free from human expectations beginning at a young age of three. Every day, Annie escapes the watchful eyes of adults and wanders off to the glen to follow the faeries. She encounters a faerie named June, who has been abandoned on a wildflower stem. Her wing was broken, and she was blown by the wind. At age six, Annie is sent home from school for disrupting classes with her tales of the glen. Exasperated with people not wanting to listen to her tales, she crawls out of her bedroom window and never looks back. June becomes her companion as they went deep into the forest of Baylagh Glen. Together, they began their vagabond life, with Annie never considering being missed by humans. As time passed, deforestation problems impacted the bands of faerie's homes, causing them to be wiped out with trees cut and the appearance of many lawns. The faeries cursed mankind for their ruthless behavior. Annie feels displaced, with neither faeries nor humans fully understanding her. She realizes that her home and her family are where she belongs. Annie begins her long journey home to be reunited with her family and discovers that life holds a new pathway for her. 

Wipperling has created a clever storyline to remind the reader of the importance of discovering your path and figuring out what's important to you. The storyline also includes an environmental message: Protecting the earth is everyone's responsibility. It also takes a skilled writer to keep up the momentum to create a story with a poetic narrative that maintains a steady rhythm throughout the story. 

The book is 36 pages long and contains much text per page. For readability and interest level, ages 9 and above would most likely understand the storyline. It's a wonderful read-aloud for classroom teachers to discuss the prevailing themes throughout the story with students. Books can be ordered on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and through the publisher, Pegasus's website.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Tanya Ramsey's illustrations. 

Illustrations play a crucial role in developing the storyline and capturing the attention of young readers. Ramsey successfully creates a lot of visual appeal to the storyline with her black-and-white pencil drawings. The illustrations were detailed and attentive to the size of humans and faeries. I found each illustration quite creative and engaging.

All About The Author: Suz AnneWipperling

Suz Anne Wipperling is a Minnesota author, freelance writer, and poet. Her work has been published in several publications in the Brainerd, MN area and in several anthologies. Wipperling has several YouTube videos of her poems set to her original photographs. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=suz+anne+wipperling The Violin is my personal favorite. 

Check out her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/wipperlingauthor