Fairyland: In Art and Poetry

The brightly coloured lithographs of Richard Doyle (1824-83) offer glimpses into the world of the little folk. Doyle's fairies troop through meadows, twirl in the moonlight and enlist birds and bugs in games and mischief. This collection pairs Doyle's illustrations with poems by Shakespeare, Keats, Tennyson, Yeats, Robert Graves, Stevie Smith and Laura Ingalls Wilder, among others. Fairy sweethearts among the roses illustrate Wilder's 'The Fairies in the Sunshine'; elf-babies in a snail race match Craves's 'I'd Love to be a Fairy's Child', and a fairy queen carried by butterflies re-imagines Shakespeare's popular 'Queen Mab' soliloquy. With its lively illustrations and playful poems to read aloud, In Fairyland will enchant children and grown-ups alike, whether they still believe in fairies or not.