Fans of creatures mystical and imaginative have come to cherish the special magic of world-renowned artist Wendy Froud. While film buffs hail her as the fabricator of a wizened sage from a distant galaxy—the inimitable Yoda—devotees of whimsical fiction treasure her talents in another realm: the legendary world of faeries. In collaboration with award-winning folklorist Terri Windling, Wendy Froud has conjured up an endearing faery hero—a furry denizen of the Old Oak Wood with an insatiable appetite for pink cakes and adventure: Sneezlewort Rootmuster Rowanberry Boggs the Seventh. Albeit a young root faery—201 as humans reckon, but merely a child in faery years—Sneezle is already quite famous for his daring feats. In their last book of enchantment, The Winter Child, Froud and Windling brilliantly revealed the amazing story of how Sneezle, with a little help from his friend Twig, rescued a precious tot born from a golden egg by storming a goblin tower.
Weaving their spell once again, Froud and Windling now chronicle Sneezle’s latest and boldest escapade in THE FAERIES OF SPRING COTTAGE. At every delightful turn, Sneezle’s tale leaps off the page through Froud’s richly detailed images of beguiling creatures—from a luminous faery queen to a mischievous little bunch of boggarts. Throughout, exquisite color photographs, masterfully art directed by Good Faeries / Bad Faeries creator Brian Froud, showcase the strikingly lifelike qualities of Wendy Froud’s original figures—and the charm of one pivotal intruder: a real-life giant human girl.
Like most faeries of the Old Oak Wood, Sneezle has never seen a human being—though he has heard they smell like fish and can be quite dangerous. His unwelcome introduction to a member of the species comes when Rowan, a ten-year-old girl with a fascination for faeries discouraged by her pragmatic mother, ventures into the woods and accidentally scoops him up in her book bag. Before long, Sneezle finds himself trapped in an alien world: a rustic stone cottage inhabited by a whole family of humans.
Trapped inside, he comes face to face with boggarts—good faeries gone horribly bad due to woeful neglect. He confronts an army of tin soldiers and beautiful faery dolls dressed in violet that all come to life—then suddenly return to an unsettling state of suspended animation. Most fortunately, he meets a hospitable house brownie named Billy Blind, who demystifies the world of humans and abets his escape. Before his safe return to his beloved woodland home, Sneezle succeeds in restoring order to the faery world of the cottage and forging a wonderful connection with a girl who discovers her gift for seeing the magical amidst the mundane.
Blending their spectacular artistic and storytelling talents to mesmerizing perfection, Froud and Windling have created another magical volume. THE FAERIES OF SPRING COTTAGE is destined to become a classic among fans of faery tales, fantasy literature, and all things Froudian.
