Product Description

In their third adventure, Stella and her little brother cross a field and a creek before spending the day in the forest. Butterflies, snakes, rocks, and sheep provide fuel for Sam’s curious-little-brother questions and Stella’s big-sister answers as they explore the outdoor world. Gay’s watercolors bring the forest alive as the two journey toward their very own fort where Sam resolves to stay forever. Marie-Louise Gay is a multiple-time winner of Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award, Canada's Mr. Christie's Book Award, and others. “Gay’s illustrations, done primarily in watercolors with a touch of paper collage, are bright and have a whimsical touch.” — School Library Journal

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #236209 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-02
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .43" h x 9.28" w x 9.28" l, .85 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

Amazon.ca
The ever-curious Stella and her cautious younger brother Sam have already explored the summery world of the seashore and winter's deep snow. In Marie-Louise Gay's third picture book featuring these delightful siblings, Stella persuades Sam to enter the forest with her in the hopes of sighting a fairy. Stella, Fairy of the Forest follows a similar pattern to Stella, Star of the Sea and Stella, Queen of the Snow. Its feckless heroine plunges forward with heady abandon, while her brother hangs back, asking nervous questions like "Aren't there bears in the forest?" Stella's authoritatively fanciful responses account for much of the sly humour and charm of the series. "Bears sleep during the day," she brashly asserts, while bees don't sting you "if you move v-e-r-r-y slowly," and sheep are "about as dangerous as woolly blankets."

This time, however, Sam surprises Stella by having a few ideas of his own. It is Sam who informs his big sister that blue butterflies "eat pieces of sky," and Sam who spots the only two fairies of their forest walk. Gay creates a brightly coloured forest landscape where tree trunks and grass and even the clouds are exaggerated in size yet never threatening. But while the effervescent, red-headed Stella and her Linus-like brother are just as appealing as ever, Stella, Fairy of the Forest lacks some of the imaginative zip of the earlier books. While Stella and Sam could be said to have truly plumbed the depths of the sea, they only seem to linger on this forest's edge. (Ages 3 to 8) --Lisa Alward

Books in Canada
In this day and age when parents are concerned with their children's safety and outdoor play is closely monitored, when and how do children experience adventure, test their mettle and exercise their imagination? One place might be in books. While I wouldn't argue that this vicarious alternative is the best or only venue, books can be wonderful and magical places to go. Already well-known, Stella and Sam take off for new misadventures in a recent picture book for children aged three to five.
In Stella, Fairy of the Forest, Stella and little brother Sam take to the forest looking for fairies. This landscape is unlike the dark, foreboding woods of fairy tales. In her characteristic visual style, Gay creates a bright, sunny world with fluffy white clouds cleverly echoing the scene below, and gently rolling hills and glens and bubbling brooks. Even the trees, which tower high above the daring duo, allow sunlight to filter through.
Sam is catching on. His questions to Stella still project his lack of surety and experience as compared to his older and wiser big sister's, but his imagination is beginning to bloom. They venture deeper and deeper into their enchanted forest with nary a hint of an adult nearby. And there they rest and make wishes in a protective and idyllic place. Theo Heras (Books in Canada)

From Publishers Weekly
The fiery redheaded star of Stella, Star of the Sea and Stella, Queen of the Snow, returns to lead her little brother Sam on an adventurous romp through the woods in Stella, Fairy of the Forest by Marie-Louise Gay. Turns out, he's not as timid as he seems.
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