"The best book about fairies ever". -Lynnie age 9

Un livre magnifique et intéressant, mais j'aurais aimé lire un peu plus sur l'histoire des fées plutôt que sur leurs caractéristiques !

I received a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you, Frances Lincoln Children's Books!

As a child, I was absolutely obsessed with fairies. I adored my Cicely Mary Barker collection (which I still have today), and it seems to me that A Natural History of Fairies could easily provoke the same joy and wonder in a child.

Not only is the art beautiful enough to inspire any little girl or boy, but there are nature facts skillfully woven in so that a young reader may learn something about the world. For example, we're informed that fairies have a fused collarbone like that of a bird and that their bones are hollow to allow them to fly, and the author goes into the migratory patterns of certain fairies and birds. Similarly, it's explained how fairies have evolved defences against predators like snakes, foxes, or spiders!

Other well-done aspects worth mentioning is that this book does not solely focus on European fairies, but rather imaginatively designs fairies suited for life in Amazonian, Arctic, or Asian climates. There's such wonderful diversity in skintones for the fairies, too, so that each reader may be able to find a fairy who looks like them - which is what I always did when poring over my Cicely Mary Barker!

Flipping through this lovely book was such a nostalgic experience for me and made me want to go out and explore. For a young child or adult with a sense of imagination, A Natural History of Fairies might well be the perfect gift!

A book dedicated to a Linnean taxonomy of fairies. In addition to the descriptions, the drawings are really very beautiful, so much so that it goes from the definition of "children's book" to "coffee table book".

Un libro dedicato ad una tassonomia linneana delle fate. Oltre alla descrizioni c'é da dire che i disegni sono veramente molto belli, tanto da passare dalla definizione di "libro per bambini" a "libro per il tavolino del caffé".

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

Thanks Emily Hawkins, Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the ARC.

This is a very cute book about different faeries around the world. Some pretty art too.

Really good illustrations and cute how it merges real science with “fairy science”.

• Illustrations were created using graphite pencil, scanned in and digitally painted to add colour

As a child, I would have devoured this one. It examines fairies through a natural history lens, including their habits and habitats, their growth and development, how they fit in with the local ecosystems of plants and animals, and how best to observe them. The illustrations are incredibly finely detailed and very easy to lose yourself in.