Product Description

The Princess of Haiku, keeper of simple pleasures, has been kidnapped by her archenemies the Specter of Pandemonium and the Phantom of Excess, who currently inhabit two Ogre sisters, Plethora and Chaotica Glut. Simple pleasures everywhere are in danger.

Guided only by a strange riddle from given to them by an Oak tree, Spiderwort, along with Rosemary Periwinkle and Cinnebar, have only a little while to find the Princess and get her to safety. As always the Fairies will have a little magical assistance this time from a well-meaning Scarecrow and the already ghostly Minstrel of Epic Poems.

A world without simple pleasures would be unbearable and it is has already started with the children of the world. If it should leave the adults as well, it might very well be gone for good. Luckily for everyone, Fairies are the best problem solvers around and Spiderwort is one of the fastest thinking of them all!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #330427 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-09
• Released on: 2007-09-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

About the Author
J.H. Sweet has always looked for the magic in the everyday. She has an imaginary dog named Jellybean Ebenezer Beast. Her hobbies include hiking, photography, knitting, and basketry. She also enjoys watching a variety of movies and sports. Her favorite superhero is her husband, with Silver Surfer coming in a close second. She loves many of the same things the fairies love, including live oak trees, mockingbirds, weathered terra-cotta, butterflies, bees, and cypress knees. In the fairy game of If I were a jelly bean, what flavor would I be? she would be green apple. J.H. Sweet lives with her husband in South Texas and has a degree in English from Texas State University.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
When the fairies finished reading, Madam Toad continued. "The Princess of Haiku is missing. I have consulted Mother Nature. We are not sure if she has been kidnapped, or if she is just lost. And at this point, we don't know if the Glut sisters are involved.

"Already, it is obvious that something is very wrong. The Princess is not just on unexplained holiday. Simple pleasure is already being affected. If we don't find her, and help to correct the problem, it will disappear completely."

As the fairies listened carefully, Madam Toad explained further. "Dissatisfaction in simple things is growing. It has started in children and will soon spread to adults. Eventually, it will affect all other creatures as well. If this is not corrected, all pleasure in simple things will be lost to greed, chaos, and materialism."

Customer Reviews

Good Book!
What's Good about It
The fairies have unique personalities and are from many backgrounds.
Events in this book are interesting and hold the reader's attention throughout. (puzzles, scavenger hunt, etc...)
Descriptions in this book are very detailed of the fairies, scarecrow, meadows, bobcat, gnome, brownies, etc...
(The red haired, freckled twin brownies with fun nicknames are really cute.)
This is the first book of this series I have read and I didn't have a lot of questions about other things. It was a good storyline by itself. I don't feel like I have to read all of the other books though now I want to.
The mentor fairies older/supervisor fairies are interesting characters.
Protection of nature is nicely featured.
Children can learn things from this book like how to write Haiku Poetry and how to recognize the Ring around the Moon. It is not just fantasy there are reality factors built in.

Not just for fairy lovers...an important tale
This book features fairies and is in the children's fantasy genre, but it is about much more. It has relevance to yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and I believe it could appeal to anyone who ever loved great children's stories, of the kind that make you think as well as carry you away.

The importance of this book is both small and large, and I don't just mean the fairies as opposed to the ogres in the story. The smaller message is "use your head, appreciate simple things, and learn to live with less." The larger message is "something really terrible can happen if you don't." That "something" is pretty horrible and could destroy the Earth and humanity. I hope this book has the effect on others that it has had on me. I couldn't stop thinking about it after I read it. The writer of this book mixes a fun story with a message that really hits home in our modern world. For myself, I plan to pay more attention to what I actually need versus what I want.

I did enjoy the storyline of fairies going on a mission, solving puzzles, discovering new things, completing a scavenger hunt, writing poetry, etc... But I also can't stop thinking about my impact on the world, even though I am just one person. Along with a great story, this book contains classic-style illustrations (looks like a variety of media-ink, watercolor, acrylic) and fun activities in the back. The activities in the back are designed mainly to appeal to children, but the book itself is geared to everyone. I think the message might mean different things to different people depending on our ages and experiences, but it is definitely relevant.

Great Story with a Simple Theme
My daughter and I loved reading this book. After we read it, she talked about it so much that we decided to read it again.

The scarecrow is a nice character in this book, friend to the Princess of Haiku and guide to help the fairies in finding her. The ogres are also good characters and somewhat funny, playing marbles with coconuts and hopscotch with giant river stones.

The adventure has the fairies solving puzzles, going on a scavenger hunt, and writing poetry to free the Spirit of Simplicity (aka The Princess of Haiku) from an evil spell. The scavenger hunt was particularly wonderful because they were looking for things like the whisper of butterfly wings and the smell of rain and music in the water.

What really drew me to this book was remembering the fun and games from my childhood. My daughter wanted to know more about string games and handclap games, and she asked me about getting a kite. I hope she continues to show an interest in these things instead of so much focus on the handheld games and other electronic type stuff.

This is a good book and I do recommend it.