Fairy Story Picture Book Reviews

Little Fairy Can't Sleep by Daniela Drescher

Little Fairy Can’t Sleep
by Daniela Drescher

3.5 out of 5 stars

Faith can’t sleep. The moon is too bright, and all the little animals in the forest are scuffling through the underbrush making noise. She gets up and begins to explore. One by one she sees the sandman, an owl, a family of little elves, and a fox mother. They all agree that there is something strange in the air that night, and no one is ready to sleep. Faith meets the moth prince fairy and he helps her to solve the mystery of why everyone is awake. It is midsummer night and the fairies are having a party!

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Book Review: The Ordinary Princess

The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye

The Ordinary Princess
by M.M. Kaye

5 out of 5 stars

At Princess Amy’s christening, one of the fairies grants her the gift of ordinariness. Compared to her beautiful royal sisters, Amy is plain and ordinary. All her sisters have long blonde hair and perfect complexions. Amy has short mousey brown hair and freckles on her nose. As Amy grows up the royal family is distressed, because no prince wants to marry an ordinary princess with freckles. Princess Amy must take her destiny into her own hands, and prove that you don’t have to be beautiful and perfect to find happiness.

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Book Review: Illustrated Tales of Dwarfs, Gnomes, and Fairy Folk

Illustrated Tales of Dwarfs, Gnomes and Fairy Folk by Daniela Drescher

Illustrated Tales of Dwarfs, Gnomes and Fairy Folk
by Daniela Drescher (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

I am so impressed with this beautiful book of fairy tales! They are told in that traditional fairy tale style. Each story is so enchanting! Most of these are stories that I have never heard of before.

The art style is so beautiful! The subtle colors and the delicate lines are absolutely lovely and magical! I love how little details in the background will catch your attention, and add meaning to the story. It’s so delightful to see these stories come alive in the art work!

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Book Review: Tales of Fearless Girls

Forgotten Fairy Tales by Isabel Otter

Forgotten Fairy Tales: Fearless Girls Around the World
by Isabel Otter, Ana Sender (Illustrations)

This collection of fairy tales features stories from all over the globe. Each story has a fearless woman or girl who dives into adventure with courage and resourcefulness. The stories have a wide range of settings in different cultures, including Germany, Mexico, Siberia, Japan, Fiji, Nigeria, and India. Some of the tales include magical beings like elves and sorcerers, and some have magic gods and giants.

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Book Review: Fairy Tales for Brave Children

An Illustrated Collection of Fairy Tales for Brave Children by Hans Christian Andersen

An Illustrated Collection of Fairy Tales for Brave Children
by Hans Christian AndersenWilhelm GrimmJacob GrimmScott Plumbe (Author) (Illustrator)
5 out of 5 stars

I am so impressed with this beautiful book of fairy tales! They are told in that traditional fairy tale style, and include some well-known favorites like “Beauty and the Beast” and “Hansel and Gretel” as well as a few lesser-known stories.
I especially liked “The Wild Swans” and “The Three Golden Hairs”. I had never read “The Spirit in the Bottle” or “The Selfish Giant” before, and I enjoyed those very much as well. Each story is so enchanting!

The art style is so beautiful! The subtle colors and the delicate lines are absolutely lovely and magical! I love how little details in the background will catch your attention, and add meaning to the story. It’s so delightful to see these stories come alive in the art work!

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Book Review: Welsh Legendary Tales

Welsh Legendary Tales by Elisabeth Shippard-Jones

Welsh Legendary Tales
by Elisabeth Shippard-Jones
4 out of 5 stars

This collection of Welsh fairy tales is a complete delight! Each story is about 2-4 pages long. The writing is in a traditional fairy tale style, and the stories usually include some sort of moral lesson about being generous, minding your own business, or being cautious around magic.

Leprechauns, brownies, goblins, changelings, and fairies abound through the stories! There are magical cows who produce ten times the milk of a regular cow. There are fairy rings where the fairies dance the night away, and if you step inside one you will be whisked out of the realm of man.

I enjoyed reading these stories, one or two every evening at bedtime. I found them refreshing and imaginative and fun!

Book Review: Ogre Enchanted

Ogre Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Ogre Enchanted (Ella Enchanted, #0.5)
by Gail Carson Levine (Goodreads Author)
3 out of 5 stars

Evie is a teenage healer, always concocting potions for her best friend, Wormy. When he proposes, she says no, and the fairy Lucinda curses her to be an ogre until she accepts a marriage proposal. Any marriage proposal from anyone. Evie travels to the Fens, hoping to learn the art of persuasion from the ogres who live there. Life as an ogre is more difficult than she imagined, but Evie becomes known as the healer ogre. She searches for someone who will awaken her ability to love, and hopes that someone will propose to her. But she isn’t even sure what love is supposed to feel like.

I was disappointed in this book.
The story was oddly disjointed, and there were several things that seemed exceedingly far-fetched, even for a fairytale world. The ending was rushed, and the relationships felt forced. The characters are okay, but I wasn’t amazed with their personalities or the bland character development.

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Book Review: The Ravenous Gown

The Ravenous Gown by Steffani Raff
The Ravenous Gown: And 14 More Tales about Real Beauty
by Steffani Raff (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars


These fairy tales focus on daring young men and women who want to be appreciated for their personality, virtues, and inner qualities rather than outward beauty. They battle dragons, fight wars, defeat evil sorcerers, and unravel magic in order to find their true identity and inspire their kingdom.

I loved that these fairy tales use all the old tropes about dragons and knights and fair maidens, and then turn everything upside down and surprise you with the plot twists when the maiden saves herself.
Each fairy tale is short but powerful with meaningful messages of hope and acceptance. Continue reading

Book Review: The Everything Princess Book

The Everything Princess Book by Barbara Beery
The Everything Princess Book: 101 Crafts, Recipes, Stories, Hairstyles, and More!
by Barbara Beery, David Miles, Brooke Jorden, Michele Robbins, Rebecca Sorge 

5 out of 5 stars

This book begins with several fairy tales about princesses, including Thumbelina, Princess Savitri, and Princess Kaguya. The next chapter has royal recipes and instructions for organizing a tea party, a royal ball, or a cottage picnic. There is also a chapter with princess games and activities, and another with crafts for making your own tiara, princess sandals, necklaces, and fancy invitations.

The chapter on “Princess Practices” goes over courtesy and manners including the proper way to set a table, how to curtsy and have proper posture, as well as lessons in horsemanship, music, penmanship, art, fencing, and how to deal with enchantments and poison apples. You will also learn how to say hello in different languages, how to do the princess wave, and be sincerely friendly when meeting foreign dignitaries.

My favorite chapter was the one about “Being a True Princess” with lessons and examples for Kindness, Courage, Gratitude, Honesty, Intelligence, Sensitivity, Forgiving, and Inner Beauty. This chapter asks thoughtful questions and encourages the reader to take action in their own lives and share kindness with others.
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Book Review: A Bag of Moonshine

A Bag Of Moonshine by Alan Garner
A Bag Of Moonshine
by Alan Garner

4 out of 5 stars on GoodReads


I loved this collection of fairy tales, rewritten from the folklore of England and Wales. The author has an uncanny ability to mimic the story-telling style of old folk tales, with whimsy and ingenuity.

The black and white illustrations add to the ghoulish atmosphere of the tales, and they are true to the art style I see in so many old fairy tale books from the late 1800s.

The enchantment of these stories lies in the excellent word-craft, and the weird and eccentric characters who populate the world of magic and mayhem. Full of changlings, witches, ogres who spin gold, and the clever youngest brother named Jack, these stories captivate the reader with the magnetic words and witty narrative style.