Too Many Fairies: A Celtic Tale - Hardcover

Read MacDonald, Margaret

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 076145604X ISBN 13: 9780761456049

Publisher: Two Lions, 2012

Synopsis

There was once an old woman who hated chores. “Work! Work! Work! How I hate it! Hate it! Hate it!” One day some fairies show up. They…clankety-clankety-clankety―clean all the dishes. Swishety-swishety-swishety―sweep the house. Flumpety-flumpety-flumpety―shake out the bedclothes. Clickety-clickety-clickety―work on all the knitting. But then there is nothing left to do. So, they tear everything apart and start again! Clankety-clankety-clankety, swishety-swishety-swishety…The fairies are driving the old woman crazy! How will she get them to leave? Lively watercolor illustrations add to this retelling by master storyteller Margaret Read MacDonald. An author’s note is also included.

About this title

About the Author

Margaret Read MacDonald received her Ph.D. in folklore from Indiana University and is an author, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s librarian. Each year she travels to exotic places on the hunt for new tales―Kota Kinabalu, Alor Setar, Shanghai, Palembang, and Buenos Aires, to name just a few. Among her recent books are The Singing Top: Tales from Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei; Five Minute Tales: More Stories to Read or Tell When Time Is Short; and Earth Care: World Folktales to Talk About; and Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur! A Palestinian Folktale, an American Library Association Notable Book. Dr. MacDonald lives in Kirkland, Washington. To learn more about her work, visit www.margaretreadmacdonald.com.

Susan Mitchell received her degree in drawing and painting from Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. Soon after graduating, she visited Plymouth, England, where a fortune-teller told her she would “go across the water,” have one son, and illustrate children’s books. She soon moved to Montreal, Quebec, with her new Canadian husband and began her career in children’s books and had a son. To learn more about the illustrator visit: www.susan-mitchell.com.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 3—An old woman grumbles, "Work! Work! Work! How I hate it! Hate it! Hate it!" Her complaining soon brings four fairies to her door to perform her chores—washing dishes, sweeping, making the bed, and knitting. But all of the help still can't stop her from complaining about all the noise the fairies are making: "clankety, clankety," "swishety, swishety," "lumpety, flumpety," and "clickety clickety." "These fairies are driving me crazy!" she laments. But when she tells them to stop, they begin to reverse all of their chores, tearing everything apart. A visit to the village wise one teaches the complaining old woman a lesson about being content with her own situation. This Scottish folktale is subtle but effective in its message of humility. The illustrations are folksy and warm with amusing detail. Notable are the old woman's pointed shoes, the fairies' woodland-creature apparel, and the animation of ordinary household items. A fun read-aloud.—C. J. Connor, Campbell County Public Library, Cold Spring, KY
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A fairy tale in which the fairies get fired, MacDonald's take on a Scottish-Irish folktale starts with an old woman who hates housework. A voice from outside calls (“Your luck has come! Open the door! / Let me in and you'll work no more!”), and soon several fairies have taken over her house, doing all the chores to which the old woman has grown accustomed. When she yells “Fairies STOP!” because they're so “rackety,” they proceed to take apart all they have done, so that they can start all over again. The sound effects—from “clankety clankety” to “swishety swishety”—make this a fun read-aloud, and Mitchell's full-of-green pictures are engaging domestic scenes with a little fairy dust thrown in. The tale ends with the old woman luring the sprites outside and incapacitating household objects so that they can't help the fairies back in. As the knitting needles say, “We're stuck in the yarn; we cannot get out!” The last page features the happy old woman alone with her chores. Grades K-2. --Abby Nolan

Edition details

• Publisher: Two Lions
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 076145604X
• ISBN 13: 9780761456049
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Mitchell Susan
• Number of pages: 32