Product Description

What if you discovered you had magical fairy powers? Meet the girls of The Fairy Chronicles, otherwise normal girls like you who are blessed by Mother Nature with special gifts. Their extraordinary adventures will change the world ...

Magic surrounds us, though we can't always see it. Gnomes add color to the plants in our gardens, doves deliver our good dreams, gremlins occasionally break our things and Mother Nature keeps the balance between the light and the dark. But just because you can't see something doesn't mean it can't hurt you.

Luckily, Mother Nature has blessed some otherwise ordinary girls with an extraordinary gift: in addition to being girls, they have been granted a fairy spirit, each one as unique and beautiful as the girls themselves, each as wild and powerful as their counterparts in nature. Watch Dragonfly zoom by with the speed of her namesake, or witness Firefly use the incredible light that shines within her. Each fairy spirit is a powerful gift granting the girls who use them the ability to do amazing feats. But with power comes responsibility and the fairies might have the hardest of job of all: to protect Mother Nature and us, even though we don't even know they existed. Until now ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #225335 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

From the Author
The Fairy Chronicles is a series of modern fairy tales full of magical creatures, both good and evil, and heroic characters who participate in dangerous missions to protect nature and fix serious problems. Ideal for all ages, reading levels ages 7 to 12, the stories include a diverse set of fairy characters and a wide variety of other magical creatures such as trolls, brownies, witches, dwarves, gnomes, elves, unicorns, goblins, wizards, dragons, ogres, magic gargoyles, gremlins, demons, nymphs, giants, and many more.

Each story has some sort of problem to be solved such as recovering the stolen Shell of Laughter, helping to break an evil curse, solving the mystery of the Magic Snowglobe, rescuing kidnapped bat fairies, trying to locate missing human shadows, or helping a dragon complete a dangerous quest. Characters and readers learn interesting things such as why fairies fear jigsaw puzzles, what the trolls’ favorite foods are, how dragons are born, why the flamingo stands on one foot, the reason human beings have a shadow, what the grasshopper uses buttons for, where courage comes from, how hope is spread around the world, and what causes nightmares. The Fairy Chronicles are stand-alone books and can be read in any order.

Visit fairychronicles.com for more information about the series.

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.

Ever since she was a little girl, Tara Larsen Chang has been captivated by intricate illustrations in fairy tales and children's books. Since earning her BFA in Illustration from Brigham Young University, her illustrations have appeared in numerous children's books and magazines. When she is not drawing and painting in her studio, she can be found working in her gardens to make sure that there are plenty of havens for visiting fairies.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Firefly, Marigold, Periwinkle, and Thistle all sat quietly, thinking how horrible it would be if their fairy spirits were taken from them, and how sad it was that Magnolia would never remember any of the wonderful things about being a fairy. Periwinkle's snail spirit guide, perched on her shoulder, sighed and shook his head sadly.

Next, Madam Toad cleared her throat and said, "Now let me introduce our guest for today." As she said this, a small, solid-black squirrel stepped out from behind the trunk of the silver fir.

Customer Reviews

"Great for 3rd and 4th Graders & A Breath of Fresh Air"
This book series kept my kids busy this summer. They read the first two books at least three times each. I was so glad when the next two came out so I could get them to read more books.
I have screened the books carefully, and I am not only satisfied, I am delighted. This is terrific -- nothing but good stuff here. The girls in the books even get along with each other. The nature and garden parts really add to the quality of the experience.
"Firefly and the Quest of the Black Squirrel" is my favorite of the first four in this series, so I am doing the review for it. The girls (who are also the fairies) go camping. They are on their Spring Break and expect to just have a fun time. Then they are sent on an important mission. They meet interesting characters along the way and help solve a pretty big problem. The story flow is excellent, and we are pulled along on the mission with the fairies. I could almost hear what they were saying and I felt as though I was breathing the clean fresh air.
My daughters tell me that they like the fun and excitement. I think they are drawn to this book and the series not only because the books are interesting but because they can identify with the characters. However the girls in the books are not all the same even though they have things in common. One of the characters is getting adopted, another is homeschooled, one of the leaders of a former fairy mission is on a trip with her family, another girl gets into trouble for abusing her fairy power. This adds nice variety and perfectly parallels the variety of fairy spirits with their different gifts and wands. I think my girls also feel empowered when reading these books. It makes them feel like they can make a difference in the world.
The books are labeled for seven and up. I recommend this series specifically for those in third and fourth grade. The length might be a tad short for a high level fourth grader, but the content is very appropriate and will keep them reading. First and second graders would also enjoy the books but might need a little help with the language. Because the books do not contain anything questionable, they would be appropriate to read aloud to even younger children.
I highly recommend this book and the series it belong to as a Breath of Fresh Air.
Teresa Scott-Wright

Lots of Fairies and Lots of Fun
In this installment of The Fairy Chronicles, several new fairies are introduced. The same fairy team of the first three books is present, except Dragonfly on vacation with family, but Periwinkle is added to the mix. She is a Native American fairy with special skills coinciding with her culture, to add to her fairy gift of sun tolerance to fit with pink periwinkles. I have been buying these for my granddaughter. Since I only see her about once a month, I get to read her books before gifting them to her. She agrees with me that Firefly and the Black Squirrel is wonderful. When the fairies go to their Fairy Circle, more fairies are introduced. We can't wait for their adventures. We took a drive to a park last week and along the way we saw what we deemed as purple meadows and white meadows. They weren't the same as the ones in the book, but we still had fun imagining that there were fairies flitting about them on a fun adventure. We really liked this book.

Lovely Array of Characters
Firefly and the Quest of the Black Squirrel has a fantastic assortment of characters: dwarf, black squirrel, goblin, twenty plus assorted fairies with six being the main participants in this fairy mission, bees, hornets, birds, brownies, the magical Black Stag, the Shadow of Death, and a magical creature known as a squit. Each of these characters is given a colorful personality, even the bees and hornets, to add to the intricate kaleidoscope. The squit, Firecracker, who is a furry, fluffy creature about the size of a basketball when dry (and a baseball when wet) has a wonderful personality. The fact that he might not even be real adds a certain charm to this book, making it extremely memorable. My two children loved this story, and I am looking forward to reading it again and sharing it with other family and friends. I think this book would appeal to a multitude of readers, and I do recommend it along with the others in this series. The books contain activities and nature facts in the backs as a bonus.