Where the fairies fly

Cute. Cute. CUTE.

Where the fairies fly by Jane Simmons. Another classic bedtime story that is full of hope and wonder.

A little girl called Lucy loves telling imaginative stories and most of all loves to tell them to her teddy bear. Her brother Jamie does not like bedtime and is scared of the shadows on the ceiling. One night Lucy and Jamie can not sleep so Lucy suggests that they go on an adventure to find the Dreamtime Fairies.

They delve into a wonderful adventure meeting different animals along the way and learn about how they all sleep. Lucy and Jamie come to a forest where there are dark shadows. Out of the shadows come the fairies. They twinkle and flutter. Lucy tells Jamie that he does not need to be afraid of the shadows because that is where the Dreamtime Fairies fly. Lucy and her brother Jamie slip into a sweet dream. The final image shows the two of them sleeping together with their teddies. Perfect.

I like the fact that the story comes from a brave girl's perspective, often stereotypes make us believe that boys are the brave ones. I also love the fact that there is no mention of how Lucy and Jamie get to their adventure land, and that really it is all in the imagination. Only when an adult reads this story to a child will they recognise this, but the child will not because they are already deeply involved and part of this new, exciting and curious world. Children have a gift of being able to take themselves into other worlds, and this book really exemplifies that. When we get older we tend to forget about the fun of endless possibilities and become restricted in our thinking and think 'the right way.' Probably a reason why I am so fond of drama and implementing it in schools!

The images are just amazing. They are made of a sort of pastel texture that softly blends the energetic colours together.

This is one story I hope to be able to share with my children at bedtime.