Finding Fairyland - Book Review

Dear Shell,

This weekend I went to a book signing for a fellow Red Hot Writers member. Barry Poupard is the author of two books geared toward children. He wrote them specifically for two young girls, Julia and Laura, ages 8 and 12.

Finding Fairyland is Julia's story. In this book, Julia is a young girl who believes that fairies do exist, and that if you try hard that you can find a way to fairyland. Armed with the knowledge she gained through researching fairies and with her best friend by her side, she heads out to find the way in.

Finding Fairyland 2 is Laura's story. While she is the older sister and is a teenager in the story, she still believes in fairies as well. Normally older sisters are the ones who get to do everything first, so when Julia has her adventure in fairyland before she does, it makes Laura more determined to also experience the magic. She sets out to find her own way into fairyland.

Finding Fairyland 1 and 2 are cute stories. I was drawn into the adventure along with Julia and Laura. The stories also had messages or lessons behind them that were subtle yet stood out enough that hopefully a young child reading or listening to the stories would pick up on. Maybe the messages/lessons were not intentional, but they are there.

Messages such as:
you do not need to be just like everyone else to be liked (when Julia lost her former best friend then found a new friend),
that if you are polite and respectful to others they will usually be polite and respectful back to you (the golden rule, do unto others..),
you shouldn't treat someone different just because they look different,
its better to walk away when someone tries to hurt you instead of returning the hurt back to them.

Overall the books are a good read. I could easily imagine myself reading them out loud to a young child. I think girls as young as 4 would enjoy hearing the stories. I would recommend them to anyone with young girls between the ages of 4 and 12 (younger boys might like them but not sure about boys closer to being teenagers). They can be found on Amazon.com or from Bleau Gardens in Flushing, Michigan.


Shell