Just when I thought that I had found the perfect book of Flower Fairies (Flower Fairies Four Seasons) this book comes along and blows my mind even more! Where most of the other flower fairy books rly on simplicity for their charm, this book takes the opposite approach and gives us fairies to the max. Each page is absolutely saturated with illustrations, combining a myriad of Barker's fairies and flowers to create some truely wonderful scenes. The story starts out simply, with the discovery of a small door by Evie, but what she finds behind the door will change her (and her best friend Grace's) life forever - a fairy! As with all things magical, once you see them they begin to appear everywhere, and sure enough Grace and Evie begin finding more fairy doors. Each page has a new door behind which are revealed fairies, using a variety of pop-up techniques to tell the story and set the scene of discovery. Some of the designs are quite simple, using the movement of the opening panel to slowly disappear the fairy, but other doors utilize sliding panels to show action, pop-up effects for a 3-dimensional view, and shimmering effects to mimic a magical fairy mirage. The story culminates with the girls discovering a massive fairy party which is showcased in an extravagant multi-panel pop-up which really brings the story to life. There are lots of pop-up books which I'm sure are fun for kids but lack the true innovation to delight adult audiences, but this is truely one of the best examples of the medium that I've ever seen. It combines wonderful illustrations and an engaging story, while fully using the range of the pop-up medium, to give readers an excellent all around book! ( )

This is a pop-up book that seems like it was written specifically for Ann Arbor. Since there are little fairy doors around Ann Arbor it would be great to read in a local Ann Arbor school. Each page is beautifully illustrated around a fairy door that opens up and reveals traces of fairies behind each door (For example: a sliding fairy foot, sliding berries, or actual sliding fairies). The text is written about two best friends Evie and Grace who find fairy doors and fairies around where they live, but when they return to them later the doors always disappear. The illustrations are magical! They are so detailed every inch of the page is covered in detailed drawings. Any little girl would dream about Grace and Evie’s adventure in this story so I would definitely recommend reading this book with girls interested in fairies. I think it is interesting how the author even include a book titled “Fairy Folklore” on a page, which ties together the premise of the book that Grace and Evie have always believed in fairies. The fairy folktale has definitely been passed down throughout our culture. The story ends on a night when Evie and Grace are having a sleepover. The two girls follow the fairies out into a garden where the fairies are having a party and the girls join in. The ending really does leave a folklore impression and this illustration/pop up is by far the most detailed in the book ( )