Product Description
In a forest called the Old Oak Wood, early on a rosy summer’s morn, a young faery named Sneezle wakes in his nest to the clear music of pipes and the warm smell of the sun. At dusk tonight, the Midsummer Eve festivities will begin — a time of potent magic in the faery realm. But just what will take place remains a mystery, for every year young Sneezle has fallen asleep. Something wonderful will happen, he knows — or perhaps something dreadful and strange, for the faeries have two sides to their natures.
Something wonderful, something strange…In this enchanting collaboration between renowned doll maker Wendy Froud and award-winning writer Terri Windling, Sneezle’s Old Oak Wood comes vividly alive with the magical denizens of the faery kingdom: a fatherly old troll dispensing wisdom from deep in his burrow; faery godmothers washing fragile wings; Titania and Oberon, the great lovers who rule over this faery kingdom; and a host of piskies, pookas, enchanted beasts, and darker spirits. Filled with the mystery and wonder of the very best faery tales, this entrancing story sends our unlikely little hero, Sneezle, into the tangled heart of the forest in an effort to thwart a powerful plot that threatens the Old Oak Wood.
Can the faery kingdom be saved? Can an insignificant little creature like Sneezle succeed in a hero’s quest? With dazzling charm and a magical touch that will appeal to readers of all ages, A Midsummer Night’s Faery Tale shows us that a good heart can triumph over evil and that humble truths are more powerful than the most elegant artifice.
A Midsummer Night’s Faery Tale is the result of a magical collaboration between the doll and puppet maker Wendy Froud and the award-winning author Terri Windling. The faery world they unveil here so vividly features images of Ms. Froud’s handmade figures woven into an enchanting faery tale for all ages written by Ms. Windling.
Amazon.com Review
Not once upon a time, but right now, in a British forest called Old Oak Wood, faeries frolic, invisible to those humans who choose not to believe in them. In A Midsummer Night’s Faery Tale, doll maker Wendy Froud (best known for creating Yoda and other creatures for Muppet master Jim Henson) and award-winning fantasy author Terri Windling collaborate to tell the story of one of these elusive fellows, a young tree-root faery named Sneezle. Each page of this delightful book is graced with an elaborately staged photo of Froud’s doll creations in their natural habitats, paired with Windling’s story of Sneezle’s unlikely heroism. Sneezle and his diaphanous friends are adorable enough to charm a kid, and his adventures are interesting enough to hold the attention of an adult reading the book aloud to a favorite youngster.
Sneezle’s adventures begin when he sets out to fetch the Midsummer crown for King Oberon. Meanwhile, the Faery Queen Titania is found asleep, victim of a powerful magic spell. The hopes of the faery kingdom ride on Sneezle’s little shoulders! While on his journey, Sneezle meets up with fascinating forest characters, discovers the identity of the wicked sorceress who has enchanted the queen, and learns about courage and loyalty. He also figures out that being “the same old Sneezle” is a fine thing to be. Kids and adults will enjoy this richly illustrated, romantic fantasy. (Ages 8 and older) –Therese Littleton
Anonymous @ 7:07 pm
This is a wonderful book for all lovers of folklore, fairy tales, and the magical forests of the British Isles. I bought it to read to my children, but I loved Terri Windling’s poetic tale also and Wendy Froud’s dolls are stunningly beautiful, so I would recommend this as a perfect gift for adults too. I have also purchased Terri Windling’s brand new faery story for older children, The Raven Queen, and recommend it to all faery lovers. It’s another poetic and magical faery story from the talented Miss Windling and the only thing that would have made it better is cover art by Wendy Froud. Long live the faeries!
Anonymous @ 7:48 pm
It is Midsummer’s Eve and all the faeries are coming to Old Oak Wood to celebrate the summer solstice. Since this is a time of powerful magic, something dreadful is as likely to occur as well as something wonderful. The fairies have to be on guard at this time. However, unbeknownst to anyone, a traitor to King Oberon and Queen Titania has emerged.
Only one individual needing a lot of luck can possibly save the realm. However, Sneezle is a youngster, being only two centuries old. He has never made it through the festivities without falling asleep. Yet he is the last hope to stop a treacherous act from succeeding.
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S FAERY TALE is an entertaining story filled with fabulous illustrations throughout the fantasy. The story line is typical of the genre with a nice but kind of pitiable individual turning into an epic hero. However, Wendy Froud and Terri Windling make it work because Sneezle has a charm that will delight children and adults. Fans of faeries and otherworldly beings will enjoy this rich tapestry as the pictures are filled with elaborate detail, enhancing a fun plot.
R. Garcia @ 10:31 pm
It’s not very surprising that Wendy Froud happens to be the wife of the renowned fantasy artist, Brian Froud himself, who is quite famous for his very unique fairy and faerie creations. And Terri Windling’s writing isn’t too shabby here, either. So with all Mrs. Froud’s very life-like arrangement of faery figures so elaborately designed and dressed and then carefully positioned within an equally believable woodland setting, Ms. Windling’s fairy tale begins with the busy preparation for a great ceremonious faery festival: The Midsummer Night – as derived from one of William Shakespeare’s famed plays. The hero of this tale is a very humble little Sneezle, who happens to be a sleepy-eyed wingless faery of the tree roots. He wants so much to be part of the much bristling about, yet he keeps getting underfoot or into a big mess. So the poor innocent little creature is quite crestfallen, yet he does not yet know that he would soon be playing a very crucial role in thrawting the crafty plans of an evil faery about to overtake the whole faery realm! Yet…young Sneezle just does NOT has much courage or any skill to fight at all – a very unusual kind of a fantasy protagonist. Beautifully written with a rustically poetic style and marvelously illustrated by all those well-made dolls that would truly delight any fantasy fans and serious fancier of fairies and faeries!
R. M. Fisher @ 1:30 am
A collaboration between famous doll-maker Wendy Froud and award-winning author/editor Terri Windling – could you ever ask for a better team? In this beautifully created book the two present the story of the faery Sneezle – small, helpless and over-looked, who is desparate to make a difference on this particular Midsummer Night, the night where all manner of faery creatures join to together in celebrations unknown to Sneezle – he’s always sleeped through them! He is determined though that tonight will be different, and immediately goes out in search of something to do to help, though often his attempts cause more harm than good. Finally though he is given a task by Lord Oberon himself, a task so important however that Sneezle doubts his chances to successfully achieve it. With Queen Titania under a strange spell of sleep, Oberon orders Sneezle to fetch her crown from the Heart of the Wood – but a beautiful-yet-dangerous enchantress is out to fetch the crown also, to become Oberon’s new queen.
If there is something wrong with this book, it is perhaps that the narrative is too complicated. I get the distinct impression that this book will most likely reach the bookshelves of more adults than children, but nevertheless the story often branches out into several tangents that do not quite flow. Though the story starts with Sneezle’s quest to find something useful to do and a few encounters with various faery folk, he soon comes across the sleeping Titania. He then goes in search of Oberon, who sends him off to fetch the crown. Then there is Twig, the young faery who (and this I really disliked) wanted time to perfect her appearance before going on a life-or-death quest to fetch the crown. Then there’s the matter of the sword and Titania’s missing and transformed handmaidens, and of Rianna’s several appearances and her adjenda that conflicts with Sneezle’s own. Perhaps the intricate, many stranded plot was what Windling was going for, but it doesn’t quite come across as the simple `faery tale’ that is in the title of the book. I’m not saying that Windling should have made a simple story line that only children would have found enjoyable, nor that I particulary disliked it – just that a few creases in the structure could have been ironed out to make it a more fluid storytelling effort, rather than a rushed and jumbled story. On the other hand, the story is charming, not too sugary (like many other `fairy’ tales) and has a good underlining message to just be yourself. This is just a little quibble of mine – nitpicking in the face of an otherwise perfect and beautiful book.
Wendy Froud’s exquistie dolls are the real reason for purchasing this book. Whether they are the tiny sylph-like faerys or the larger, more solid, graceful humanoid dolls, the distorted and somewhat macabre gnomes and imps or the merticulously crafted unicorns, each one is unquie, beautiful and inspiring. Each one has its own personality, its own individuality and a beautiful costume. Yet although these dolls are positioned within beautifully created sets of woodland scenery and lighted softly and mysteriously, I would not re-hire the photographer they used as he sometimes shoots the dolls from some rather awkward angles. The most obvious example is that of the faery Rianna in the picture where she is leaning forward, her hand extended. The doll herself is utterly perfect, but the actual photograph is off-centre, so that she is positioned well on the left side of the page and her fingers are almost lost in the binding of the book. I assume this was done to keep all of her wings within the picture, but all that needed to be down was photograph her at a different angle. As it is, the photograph almost appears to be part of a much bigger photo that was roughly chopped to fit into the book. Another example is that of Oberon and Titania on the unicorns at the conclusions of the book – Oberon’s black unicorn is not only difficult to see, but again nearly lost in the binding, such is its positioning on the far left side of the page.
Yet again, this is another small flaw and never takes away from the beauty of the dolls and the charm of Windling’s intricate story. Make sure you get your hands on the next edition – The Winter’s Child, and cross your fingers for a third installment in Sneezle’s adventures.
Anonymous @ 3:40 am
Sneezle, you ask? What exactly is a Sneezle? Well, Sneezle is our little root faery hero, that’s who! This is a wonderful book with a very good lesson that teaches us that everyone in life has been put here for a reason. Sometimes it may seem that certain people in life have better luck, are more beautiful, are thinner, have a better voice, etc but this book shows us that there is something special in everyone, even when we least expect it. Sneezle shows us that the pure of heart will always prevail over the forces of evil.
The artwork in this book is also PHENOMINAL (please forgive me if my spelling is incorrect.) Every time I look at the pictures, I find something new. The creatures, the landscapes, the settings are all GLORIOUS! Although this is a “children’s” book, I highly recommend it for both the young and old at heart.