FAIRY DOOR DIARIES

A young girl travels to the Land of the Flower Fairies and saves the day.

Eliza has a hideout under the stairs where she reads about fairies with her stuffed toy; on one wall, she creates a “teeny-tiny fairy door” out of moss and sticks. One day, the door flies open, and magic allows her to fit through into the Land of the Flower Fairies, where every flower has a fairy, and new flowers appear whenever old ones are picked. Her dragonfly pin becomes a familiar named Haiku, and she befriends a pink-winged fairy named Poppy. She introduces herself as Eliza of the Elves. Trouble begins as she accidentally crosses a hedgerow into Strangleweed Swallow. There, two witches named Wolfsbane and Belladonna cast a spell to summon the Demon Wind, which steals the scents from the flowers, causing them—and their fairies—to wilt and die. Eliza is immune to their curse, so it’s up to her to save the flowers and her new friends. This slim volume packs in plenty of magic and nonstop action and adventure but not a lot of character development. When Eliza returns home, her blank diary has magically filled with an account of her adventures, paving the way for a series of future escapades. Colorful gouache and colored pencil illustrations throughout will help practicing readers by illuminating the highly visual action. Eliza presents Asian; characters are diverse.

Fairy fans will find an enchanting new world.