Fairy Spell: How Two Girls Convinced theWorld that Fairies are Real by Marc Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler. NONFICTION PICTURE BOOK. Clarion Books,
2018. $18. 9780544699489
BUYING ADVISORY: EL-
ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Frances and her mother are living with her aunt and uncle
while her father serves in World War I. She and her cousin, Elsie are very
close friends and when Frances falls into a nearby stream yet again, Elsie
attempts to help ease the situation and avoid Frances from getting into trouble
by asking to use her father’s new camera to take a picture of the fairies
Frances loves to see by the brook. They finally convince him to let them use it
and when the photographs are developed, they find that they did indeed capture
and image of fairies with Frances. The adults are confounded. The girls manage
to get one more photo of Elsie holding hands with a gnome. All of the parents
think the girls are tricking them, but they won’t confess, and they can’t prove
that the photos are fakes. A well-known author (Arthur Conan Doyle) and a
researcher on the supernatural, hear about the photos. Conan Doyle decides to
print the photos, without the families’ names, in the newspaper along with an
article he is writing about fairies. Elsie and Francis manage to get three more
photos of fairies for the article. Many believed this story for many, many
years. Eventually, the truth about the pictures came out when Elsie and Frances
were well into their golden years.
This is a really interesting story about a hoax that lasted
for over fifty years. The pictures are nicely done and the actual photographs
are printed within the story. There might be a lot of information for younger
readers, but this book would be such a great way to discuss misinformation in
the past and how it compares to today. There is an author’s note in the back of
the book.
Shay, High School Librarian, MLS
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